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VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented


Frankie Crisp

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I've watched a fair few recently but I just want to talk about how well The Blair Witch Project stands up today, and not only the film but the official mockumentaries that were released before and after the original showings. Those alone are a fair fuck better than the needless sequel with one even almost seeming like it's there to say that film is just trash.

But yeah, such a seemingly simple film that's still the only great found footage thing around. It's interesting that the film was originally going to be portrayed as a documentary with interviews done post finding of the tapes interspersed throughout that footage, I'm glad it wasn't in the end as I don't think it would have had half the effect it did.

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I think I've told this before but I had a pirated VHS copy with the name badly scrawled on it, which massively added to the experience of watching it first time around.

I'm not a huge fan but I loved everything surrounding it when it first came out.

It was right on the cusp of chat rooms, movie blogs (Ain't It Cool etc) so it was very hard to define whether it was real or not which was ace obviously. 

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 Twisters 4DX- If ever a film was made for 4DX it’s this one. The film is good and the leads do everything you expect them to do although quite how Glen Powell has managed to do such a smooth transition in to good guy leading man with his ridiculously smug handsome Glen Quagmire face I don’t know but he’s ace. Was just as entertaining watching the elderly troupe of grey heads getting whiplash in front of me, I didn’t expect the experience to be quite so bloody violent.

The Fall Guy- Probably too many missteps for this to be considered anything more than decent. Theres a tripped out section that’s way too long, they keep Gosling and Blunt apart too much and then they hint at a great buddy action movie it could have been. Despite that it’s a nice little love letter to stunt scenes and the chemistry between Blunt And Gosling is great as it is with Gosling and Duke. Seriously, give Duke something big and see if that charisma carries in to leading man because he’s always great. I’d love a more honed focused sequel but it doesn’t look likely.

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34 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Seriously, give Duke something big and see if that charisma carries in to leading man because he’s always great. I’d love a more honed focused sequel but it doesn’t look likely.

Yeah, this guy needs his own action franchise. Him absolutely battering lads near the end was one of the best parts of The Fall Guy. He's absolutely massive too, you could easily get him over with a decent vehicle.

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Forgot to add Abigail to my list before.

Couldn’t stop thinking how great this would be if the ‘twist’ wasn’t part of the marketing for the film. As it is it’s pretty great anyway. Everyone is on form but Dan Stevens thrives as the sleaze bag ex cop. Kevin Durand is like a big lovely naughty gorilla. I hope Melissa Barrera’s career hasn’t been derailed over that bollocks with Israel, she’s better than Scream anyway. I can see the ending dividing opinion but I thought it was alright, definitely enjoyed the film more than I anticipated I would.

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36 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Forgot to add Abigail to my list before.

Couldn’t stop thinking how great this would be if the ‘twist’ wasn’t part of the marketing for the film. As it is it’s pretty great anyway. Everyone is on form but Dan Stevens thrives as the sleaze bag ex cop. Kevin Durand is like a big lovely naughty gorilla. I hope Melissa Barrera’s career hasn’t been derailed over that bollocks with Israel, she’s better than Scream anyway. I can see the ending dividing opinion but I thought it was alright, definitely enjoyed the film more than I anticipated I would.

I felt similar about Abigail. Much better than Renfield. Glad you got to see Twisters in 4DX, as you said very rare for a film to suit a gimmicky format but this did (as did Top Gun Maverick, another Powell staring film and Poltergeist, the original).

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Yeah, Abigail was really good. Not quite as good as the same directors' Ready or Not but not far off at all. Dan Stevens is a treasure.

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20 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Yeah, Abigail was really good. Not quite as good as the same directors' Ready or Not but not far off at all. Dan Stevens is a treasure.

Someone clearly hasn’t seen Godzilla. X Kong. Though we all have our off days

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Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Someone clearly hasn’t seen Godzilla. X Kong. Though we all have our off days

Oh come on he was the only good thing in that. He was the only one who understood the daft assignment.

Edited by Devon Malcolm
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1 minute ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Oh come on he was the only good thing in that. He was the only one who understood the daft assignment.

I mean what were the chances of them knowing an emergency British dentist who specialised in Kaijus? 

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10 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

There's been a lot of good comedies so far this decade, maybe just not as many top tier Hollywood ones. I had a look down my Letterboxd ratings for comedies so far in the 2020s that I'd rated 4 stars and above and actually got a bigger list than I expected

I've seen almost none of that list, but of what I did see, No Hard Feelings and The Kid Detective are both indeed great. Gives me hope for some of the others, most of which I haven't even heard of if I'm honest. 

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I Saw the TV Glow (cinema)

I feel like a lot of people will not watch this when they hear that it's a thinly veiled allegory for being trans but I think most of us will recognise ourselves in some of the broader themes here. I thought it was beautifully made and atmospheric, unusual and unafraid of being different. Well worth the wait.

The Toll (Prime)

Welsh black comedy crime film with a quality cast. The main story becomes too convoluted for its own good but it has loads of funny moments, and it's only about 80 minutes long.

Wild Indian (Prime)

Strong crime drama about an indigenous American kid who shoots a friend, tracing his life to adulthood and how it shapes him. The acting quality is mixed but the story is really good and the ending powerful.

Music Box

Courtroom drama about a Hungarian ex-pat who is accused of being a Nazi collaborator. Relies too much on setting up a twist moment but anyone who likes a courtroom film should find this enjoyable.

Boomerang (1947)

Another courtroom drama, slightly better than Music Box, but actually a better film to that point when talking about America's criminal justice system. Excellent cast too in which Dana Andrews and Lee J. Cobb excel.

Point Blank (1967)

This just gets better every time I watch it, and I've watched at least 16 times now. Lee Marvin was one of the greatest people who has ever lived and this is his landmark role and performance.

Touch of Evil

Orson Welles' best film, better than Citizen Kane but just as transformative for the crime genre as Kane was for cinema as an artistic medium. One of the greatest films of the 1950s.

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