VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[FLips]

Inglorious Basterds

It was OK. Can't really say more or less to be honest. Not as good as I thought it would be but also wasn't bad. Never once felt like a Tarantino film until someone got their bare feet out.

Alien

Bit the bullet on what I thought would be a nice easy entry level horror because my wife loves them and she's hyping up "spooky season" so wanted to not be a complete fanny. I really enjoyed it. I looked up the jumpscares beforehand on WheresTheJump.com so nothing caught me off guard. The design of the Alien and the ship is really impressive even today.
Bilbo Baggins was a right arsehole.

[Gus Mears]

Thoughts broadly echo @Bellenda Carlisle on Beetlejuice 2.

Way too many characters and sub-plots that were rushed. I think you could have made a good film either focusing on Jenna Ortega's love interest or Monica Belluci's character (preferably the second considering even the ten minutes of set up around the love interest bit bored me) and instead it was a hodgepodge mix of the two with neither having much impact. Willem Defoe's character also felt like it was written out on the back of a napkin. Catherine O'Hara was the best thing in it and Michael Keaton was a close second. I enjoyed the liberal use of Macarthur Park. Probably my favourite Tim Burton film in 20 years, which is praise so thin that you can see through it.

Edited September 20, 2024 by Gus Mears

[Devon Malcolm]

Strange Darling (cinema)

Quite a year for serial killer films. This one is every bit as good as Longlegs while also being stylistically and narratively completely different. Feels like a 1970s exploitation film turned on its head. Not seen a better performance than Willa Fitzgerald's this year. Stunning.

Blink Twice (cinema)

I've seen this film about 30 to 40 times in the last 10 years or so and it's rarely good and neither is this. Really disappointing despite the great cast, reliant on extremely obvious twists.

Slingshot

Casey Affeck continues to work off the radar after all the post-Manchester by the Sea controversy and it ain't working. Completely derivative sci-fi drama with a painfully obvious ending. Laurence Fishburne and Emily Beecham are worth seeing for very different reasons but this just isn't good.

The Union (Netflix)

While I'm all for a Halle Berry renaissance and she makes a decent effort here, absolutely nobody else could be arsed trying to make this anything other than another lazy Netflix actioner. Go back to your cryo-chamber, Marky Mark.

The Persian Version

Disappointing comedy-drama that's really uneven with its tone and ends almost completely without resolution. Some great performances but a lot of wasted potential here.

Under Paris (Netflix)

As reported by @Frankie Crisp, very enjoyable. Now there are 7 good shark films in history. The numbers are growing!

Milk & Serial (YouTube)

This is getting a lot of attention at the moment. A found footage serial killer film that is quite decent despite its short running time and reportedly minute budget (although I'm sceptical about that), hamstrung by some bad performances but the story's good and the ending superb. Worth a watch.

The Killer (2024)

John Woo remaking his 80s classic, for some reason? It's alright but Sam Worthington does an Irish accent for some reason and Nathalie Emmanuel ain't Chow-Yun fat.

The Beast (2023)

Lovely Lea Seydoux is great as ever but this is very long and very boring and doesn't work at all. This is what happens when you let the French try science fiction.

Daaaaaali!

Another one from Mr. Oizo / Quentin Dupieux. As usual, absolutely fucking mad and as usual I loved it and thought it was very funny. Impossible to describe or even talk about, really.

i also rewatched Watcher (Netflix), which stands up to another viewing so well. The ending is still brilliant and so is Maika Monroe. The Day After Tomorrow (Netflix) was just as daft as I remembered, but in mostly good ways. Jason X never deserved to be a flop and we should have got a whole sub-franchise of space-set Jason films. Dark Waters (Netflix) is just as powerful, too, a shame that it already seems to have been forgotten about.

[Lorne Malvo]

7 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

 

The Persian Version

Disappointing comedy-drama that's really uneven with its tone and ends almost completely without resolution. Some great performances but a lot of wasted potential here.

 

I quite liked this despite the terrible title, but willing to admit I may have been swayed by Layla Mohammadi's face.

 

[Frankie Crisp]

17 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Under Paris (Netflix)

As reported by @Frankie Crisp, very enjoyable. Now there are 7 good shark films in history. The numbers are growing!

Oh for fuck’s sake. I’m going to have both guess and rank them now, aren’t I? Hold on to your Cushelle and bear with me.

[Bellenda Carlisle]

39 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Daaaaaali!

Another one from Mr. Oizo / Quentin Dupieux. 

Are you downloading these? Wrong Cops was my go to "comedy recommendation you haven't seen" to people for years, I'm gagging to watch these but i couldn't find the last one you mentioned for the life of me and I'm a seasoned pirate.

[Devon Malcolm]

25 minutes ago, Bellenda Carlisle said:

Are you downloading these? Wrong Cops was my go to "comedy recommendation you haven't seen" to people for years, I'm gagging to watch these but i couldn't find the last one you mentioned for the life of me and I'm a seasoned pirate.

No, I use a streaming site that has limited access and masks itself from search engines. But you should be able to find them on the latest 123Movies incarnation.

[Weezenal]

Is The Substance as graphic as I’ve heard? I’ve become a bit of a coward with regards to graphic horror.

[Bellenda Carlisle]

3 minutes ago, Weezenal said:

Is The Substance as graphic as I’ve heard? I’ve become a bit of a coward with regards to graphic horror.

Spoiler

Yeah, graphic bloody violence and nudity. Some is like cartoon bloody stuff and some is like actual makes you squirm painful looking shit.

 

[Merzbow]

Don't want to be "that guy" going on a feminist critique but The Substance came across as immensely shallow and even stupid in it's regurgitating of the most basic "Hollywood bad" tropes, shame as it really brought down some of the most spectacular body-horror Ive seen since Crimes of the Future and Demi Moore was brilliant. Maybe something was lost in translation.

[Devon Malcolm]

11 hours ago, Merzbow said:

Don't want to be "that guy" going on a feminist critique but The Substance came across as immensely shallow and even stupid in it's regurgitating of the most basic "Hollywood bad" tropes, shame as it really brought down some of the most spectacular body-horror Ive seen since Crimes of the Future and Demi Moore was brilliant. Maybe something was lost in translation.

Yeah, I'm cautious about it. I thought Revenge was rubbish but this is on Mubi Go so I'm going to see it on Tuesday. At the very least I'll know Margaret Qualley will be great so there is that.

Edited September 22, 2024 by Devon Malcolm
fascist!

[FLips]

Aliens

We both really enjoyed the film but agreed the first was better. One alien somehow was scarier than a swarm of them, and the alien queen doesn't really get enough camera time to feel like a major threat.

We didn't realise how much pop culture and influence came from just this film alone. "Game over man, game over" and "Get away from her you BITCH" are fantastic lines, and we both popped at "They mostly come out at night, mostly" because we didn't know it was from this and only heard it on South Park. The dropship looks to have been copied peice for peice in the Halo games, and obviously Samus from Metroid is influenced heavily by how badass Ripley is in this.

The cast is great, with even grunts that get picked off the second they land on the planet getting a personality but naturally they save the best for last. Hicks, Bishop, and Ripley are a great final 3, but Hudson was a blast too. Burke is an all-time arsehole.

And this is where my Alien journey finishes I think. I don't have much interest in any past the first two, both of which I would happily watch again. I know bits of what becomes of Ripley and to be honest she's so flawless in these two I have no reason to watch universally agreed worse films to sully it.
 

[Merzbow]

10 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Yeah, I'm cautious about it. I thought Revenge was rubbish but this is on Mubi Go so I'm going to see it on Tuesday. At the very least I'll know Margaret Qualley will be great so there is that.

I liked Revenge but just saw it as a modern take on the most dumb and violent of New French Extremity, which I have a soft spot for. I hate to pit French women against each other but this one felt like it wanted to be Julia Ducournau who's on a totally different level and has a far, far more intriguing take on gender in her films.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

9 hours ago, FLips said:

Aliens

We both really enjoyed the film but agreed the first was better. One alien somehow was scarier than a swarm of them, and the alien queen doesn't really get enough camera time to feel like a major threat.

We didn't realise how much pop culture and influence came from just this film alone. "Game over man, game over" and "Get away from her you BITCH" are fantastic lines, and we both popped at "They mostly come out at night, mostly" because we didn't know it was from this and only heard it on South Park. The dropship looks to have been copied peice for peice in the Halo games, and obviously Samus from Metroid is influenced heavily by how badass Ripley is in this.

The cast is great, with even grunts that get picked off the second they land on the planet getting a personality but naturally they save the best for last. Hicks, Bishop, and Ripley are a great final 3, but Hudson was a blast too. Burke is an all-time arsehole.

And this is where my Alien journey finishes I think. I don't have much interest in any past the first two, both of which I would happily watch again. I know bits of what becomes of Ripley and to be honest she's so flawless in these two I have no reason to watch universally agreed worse films to sully it.
 

 

I'm pretty certain if my memory is correct, that there has been zero Alien franchise films since the 2nd one so your in luck.

 

If you like games Aliens Isolation is very good though and is a rather terrifying throwback to the first film.

[Mr_Danger]

On 9/22/2024 at 9:43 AM, FLips said:

Aliens

We both really enjoyed the film but agreed the first was better. One alien somehow was scarier than a swarm of them, and the alien queen doesn't really get enough camera time to feel like a major threat.

We didn't realise how much pop culture and influence came from just this film alone. "Game over man, game over" and "Get away from her you BITCH" are fantastic lines, and we both popped at "They mostly come out at night, mostly" because we didn't know it was from this and only heard it on South Park. The dropship looks to have been copied peice for peice in the Halo games, and obviously Samus from Metroid is influenced heavily by how badass Ripley is in this.

The cast is great, with even grunts that get picked off the second they land on the planet getting a personality but naturally they save the best for last. Hicks, Bishop, and Ripley are a great final 3, but Hudson was a blast too. Burke is an all-time arsehole.

And this is where my Alien journey finishes I think. I don't have much interest in any past the first two, both of which I would happily watch again. I know bits of what becomes of Ripley and to be honest she's so flawless in these two I have no reason to watch universally agreed worse films to sully it.
 

Yeah this would be true of nearly every horror antagonist. An army or Michael Myers wouldn’t be as effective as just one etc. That and the second is clearly more action whilst the first is horror. I’d definitely urge you to give Alien 3 a go. I think someone on here referenced that there’s a superior cut of it but even the og one is worth the watch imo. Clearly not on the same level but if your expectations are low you might be surprised.