VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[DJM]

15 hours ago, SaitoRyo said:

Time Cut

This was a bit shite. The wife and I stuck it on because it was a 90-minute teen slasher and it was Halloween and both felt there wasn't much there to enjoy. It's a time travel supposed horror that is derivative of Happy Death Day and Totally Killer (despite being filmed before the latter), but it's not as good as either of those. Not a lot of actual horror or violence, but a lot of scenes of teens talking about their feelings and how hard they have it in life. Not outright terrible or anything, but very much a 2/5 affair that you can afford to skip. 

I watched this earlier today and I have very similar thoughts. It's just a boring, really underwhelming sci-fi slasher (about a high school student who accidentally travels back to 2003 and decides to stop the serial killer who murdered her sister) that feels more like an really average teen drama, with boring characters, a boring story and the few kills there are in the film all off-screen. As you say, skip this one and just watch Totally Killer or Happy Death Day. 

Azrael 
In a world where no one speaks, a devout female-led community hunts down a young woman who has escaped imprisonment. Recaptured, Azrael is due to be sacrificed to an ancient evil in the wilderness, but fights for her own survival.
I like Samara Weaving and she tries her best in this, but it's an awful film. A tedious and boring Post-Rapture Apocalyptic Biblical horror film (sounds more interesting than it is), it's occasionally bloody and violent, but none of it matters when you are given no reason to care about what is happening. A really limited story, very basic characters, a predictable ending, and nothing all that interesting happening during it's short 78-minute runtime. 

Things Will Be Different
An interesting sci-fi thriller about brother and sister robbers who use time travel to lay low after their crimes. The story needed to be developed more, the film needed more explanation of what was going on and more could have been done with the ideas put forward, but it's pretty good and well acted.

Don't Move
A decent thriller about a grieving woman who encounters a killer who injects her with a paralytic drug and as her body shuts down she has to fight to survive. Entertaining enough and occasionally tense, but the interesting idea is better than its execution, it's predictable, largely unrealistic and the characters are stupid.

Starve Acre
An underwhelming folk horror film about a couple who unwittingly allow dark and sinister forces into their home and awaken a long-dormant ancient evil rooted deep in the countryside. There's a good cast, the acting is fine and it gets better towards the end, but it takes over an hour of lots of slow, moody shots of people standing or sitting around and nothing interesting happening to get there. 

Lamb
A strange folk horror film about the birth of a human/sheep hybrid of mysterious origin and the couple who adopts the child as their own. Has a good look to the film and some interesting visuals, but for the most part it is quite boring. Full of moody shots of Icelandic scenery, lingering shots of sheep and scenes of farmers farming. The last 10 minutes are pretty good, but the rest of the film not so much with an underwhelming conclusion.

Hostile Dimensions
A poor found footage sci-fi horror film about two documentary filmmakers who travel through alternate dimensions to uncover the truth about a graffiti artist who has vanished. It has an interesting idea that nothing worthwhile is done with and you end up with a boring, very low budget film full of poor special effects and amateur acting. Thankfully very short at only 75-minutes but it feels like it was made by a group of film school students. 

Berlin Syndrome
A good, tense psychological thriller about a woman who after a passionate holiday romance wakes one morning in a Berlin apartment finding herself unable to leave. Teresa Palmer is great in the lead role, but the ending felt a little rushed and parts of the film were a little underdeveloped. 

Oddity
A disappointing, largely ineffective and quite generic Irish horror film, about a blind psychic medium who attempts to uncover the truth behind her sister's murder. The acting's fine and it has a good setting, but it lacks the atmosphere, tension or scares to make it a good horror film. 

The Sadness
An extreme and depraved zombie horror film about a young couple trying to reunite amid a city ravaged by a plague that turns its victims into deranged, bloodthirsty sadists. A quite disturbing film at times that is really violent and really bloody, but which also has a really basic story and really basic characters. Could have done without the unnecessary and tiresome sexual violence and vulgar language, but worth a watch if you're a fan of films filled with gore and violence. 

Civil War
A good dystopian thriller about a group of war journalists in the near future, who race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House. Some good action, some good visuals and decent acting, but it's just not interesting or engaging enough and fails to leave a lasting impression. 

[FLips]

Ghostbusters

Always a load a fun and none of the sequels ever came close. Near enough a perfect film. Might actually get funnier each time I see it.

Big Trouble in Little China

First time seeing this. It’s OK. I feel like there’s no middle ground with it. At points it’s incredibly witty and funny with good action, at others it’s hokey straight to DVD shite. It’s all over the place. There’s so much to take in plot-wise that it feels both at times like it’s rushed and it’s dragging. Odd movie.

[LaGoosh]

1 hour ago, FLips said:

Big Trouble in Little China

I love Kurt Russell in this and everything he does is fantastic but find every other aspect of the film boring or cheesy shite.

[FLips]

3 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I love Kurt Russell in this and everything he does is fantastic but find every other aspect of the film boring or cheesy shite.

Oh yeah he carries like 90% of it himself. 

[Jesse]

Significantly more enjoyable watch with the director's commentary on, could listen to Kurt Russell and John Carpenter pal around for days

[ReturnOfTheMack]

The Radleys I'm a huge fan of Matt Haigs books, and this adaption didn't disappoint. A fairly light vampire film, but a good one.

[Surf Digby]

Hubie Halloween

Fucking Hell.

I'll admit that I've never been one for Adam Sandler (and I found out today that we share a birthday), but I was staggered that in 2020 he was still doing the "lol I'm a retard" routine, and that the humour was little more than someone saying "boner".

I can only assume that he has some pretty scandalous Polaroids of Ray Liotta, Steve Buscemi and Shaq.

[Hannibal Scorch]

Jury#2  has had a very limited release in the US for some reason. I enjoyed it a lot more than Warners last court room drama release, Joker 2. Some very interesting themes and a look at how jury’s can be affected by appearances. 
 

Nicholas Hoult is really good as the lead (the title character) as is Toni Collette in a nice on screen reunion of the two. It was an enjoyable Sunday afternoon film and I hope it finds an audience.

[FLips]

Happy Gilmore

Haven’t seen this one in over a decade. It’s an Adam Sandler movie so you could write the plot in your sleep. It’s the supporting cast that carry this but it still is what it is. You know what you’re in for, and it’s one of his better ones.

Why Him?

Has everything to be a success on paper but a long run time and complete lack of anything happening saw us turn it off when Elon Musk turned up just shy of an hour in. Really should and could have been better. Boring.

[Mr_Danger]

10 hours ago, Surf Digby said:

Hubie Halloween

 

I can only assume that he has some pretty scandalous Polaroids of Ray Liotta, Steve Buscemi and Shaq.

You get your foot in the door with Sandler and there’s every chance you end up getting a handsome wage to go and live in Hawaii or Bora Bora for a few months on his next shit straight to Netflix comedy.

[Carbomb]

With the plaudits he got for Uncut Gems, I'm a little surprised that Sandler appears to have reverted to type. Thought we'd see more drama out of him going forward.

[gmoney]

He occasionally dips his toe into more critically acclaimed stuff, it's never stopped him churning out guff as well. I think he just enjoys making films with his mates and making lots of money. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

16 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

With the plaudits he got for Uncut Gems, I'm a little surprised that Sandler appears to have reverted to type. Thought we'd see more drama out of him going forward.

I think it's more to do with contracts. Happy Madison have a deal with Netflix to make so many films, but stuff like Uncut Gems is normally him being asked to star in a film, rather than his production company making it. Does that make sense?

[Carbomb]

1 minute ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I think it's more to do with contracts. Happy Madison have a deal with Netflix to make so many films, but stuff like Uncut Gems is normally him being asked to star in a film, rather than his production company making it. Does that make sense?

Yeh, and gmoney's point too. Not having paid much attention to reviews, I may have missed something, but I was under the impression his comedies hadn't had much in the way of favourable ratings since his 90s stuff, but, of course, if he's made money from them anyway, I can see why he'd want to stick with it.

[gmoney]

They always make a shit tonne. They're the most popular films on Netflix I believe. 

Edited November 4, 2024 by gmoney