VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[SuperBacon]

2 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Serial Mom was a 12 in France, where I was living at the time. We went to the cinema for that with my grandma expecting something more family friendly. We left the cinema when the boy was having a wank and I've never seen the rest of it. 

Brilliant film. I think Kathleen Turners performance is one of the all time great ones. 

[Devon Malcolm]

I only watched Serial Mom recently and it's fantastic, as reported. One of the best things I watched last year.

[Mr_Danger]

1 hour ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Oh wow. That's a flashback! I have never seen the first one but I enjoyed FX2 a lot as a youth and haven't thought about it for about 30 years. 

I never saw the first one either for some reason. At a guess I’m thinking it was on Sky Movies a lot when we first got it because it’s rouses further memories of the film Nightbreed and Earthquake jumping on Hulk Hogan.

[SuperBacon]

5 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

I never saw the first one either for some reason. At a guess I’m thinking it was on Sky Movies a lot when we first got it because it’s rouses further memories of the film Nightbreed and Earthquake jumping on Hulk Hogan.

For me FX2 is an ITV film, after the News at 10, taped on long play for maximum static.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Oh man, I love F/X and F/X2. I saw the second first when my dad rented it from the video shop. I only saw the first film about 10 years later. 

I preferred the first as a film, but the second had far funnier moments in it that still worked.

[Dr. Alan Grant]

Anyone But You (First watch). I have a lot of time for rom-coms, but holy hell this was bad. I’m not remotely convinced that either Glen Powell or Sydney Sweeney should be leads in a film. The hideous Natasha Bedingfield song that features throughout didn’t help. Nice to see Bryan Brown though, even if everything around him is rotten.

Anora (First watch). I thought I’d check this out to see if it lives up to the hype of being Best Picture. Not for me. I liked Mikey Madison, and the lengthy sequence in the mansion was fantastic. It’s not a film I’d want to see again and I’d be surprised if it’s remembered in 5 years time. Out of the nominees I did see, I thought The Substance was far better. If there’s a tv spin-off with the henchmen, I’d watch 10 series of it.

[FLips]

The Goonies

Well it's The Goonies isn't it? Perfect Spielberg adventure flick full of charm and quality. Solid cast including who I now know to be Ralphie Cifaretto.
Got a good laugh out of the joke "1632, what is that? a year?" "no it's your top score in Pole Position" when I looked up maybe challenging the score for the retro game thread and found that it's literally the score you get for reaching the first turn of the track. So yeah, a sick burn if you ever played Pole Position.

The Killers Game

Batista stars in this one about a hitman who falls in love and wants to retire only to find out he has 3 months to live. He can't kill himself because the life insurance won't pay out to his other half so he gets the leader of a rival hitman firm who hates his guts to take him out after midnight. Just as the clock strikes twelve he gets a text from his doctor saying the results were swapped and he's fine, but the rival won't call the hit off.

It's far fetched and at times unbelievable in it's set up and execution. A lot of plot points are way too convenient and a lot of resolutions are quickly swept under the rug. That being said Batista is as good as usual in it bringing both charm and muscles to the film, and if you want a quick 100 minutes or so of over the top kills and a cast that despite the shaky plot all seem into it, then this one might be for you. Maybe doesn't live up to the premise and is trying to be so stylish that at times it feels forced and fake, but it's watcheable for sure.

Edited March 7, 2025 by FLips

[Jesse]

Mickey 17
Got what I expected really. A perfectly fun movie with some good physical comedy, intentional scenery-shewing, and a passable plot that won't last in the memory. It's novel to watch Pattinson act against himself. Five bags of popcorn!

[FLips]

Arena

Stuck this on this morning on a whim as it looked kinda ropey but had a 15 rating so figured it might be good for some human vs alien fight scenes. Boy oh boy.

The worry set in when it rolled the cast and we didn't recognise a single name except Armin Shimerman who recently had a bit part in Death Warrant and my wife knows as the Principle from Buffy.
It's about a human on some space colony that falls into trouble with the owner of the casino and associated fighting tournament when his boss steals from the casino during a police raid. The thing is though, he gets the money he owes up front for just entering the tournament and pays the debt back immediately so the film could just end there, but he decides he wants to win the tournament anyway and nearly gets killed in the process.

If you like big rubbery puppet suits and physical effects that slot right into the late 80s/early 90s then you might get some fun out of this like we did for the first half hour, but even for a 90 minute films it runs out of steam fast and became a bit of a bore to sit through mostly thanks to just how bad the main character is. It feels like an extended episode of Space Precinct or Star Trek or something and upon researching those involved that isn't a shock, the entire production and cast is filled with people who worked on Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5 and other various Sci-Fi/Horror bits.

We did wonder why it had a 15 rating too and that became apparent when near the end of the film you see Shari Shattuck's tits and some guy's head explodes. Neither felt necessary to be in what otherwise felt like an episode of Power Rangers.

If you want (for the time) impressive practical effects and goofy man vs monster fight scenes with a straight to VHS quality cast and acting, then this might be for you. Honestly though I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Edited March 8, 2025 by FLips

[Carbomb]

26 minutes ago, FLips said:

Armin Shimerman who recently had a bit part in Death Warrant and my wife knows as the Principle from Buffy.
 

Most notable and longest-running role was Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 

[FLips]

2 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Most notable and longest-running role was Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 

Not surprising given the rest of the cast but I haven't watched a minute of Star Trek in my life, or any of the others I mentioned bar Space Precinct when it was on BBC2 (I think) when I was a kid.

[Carbomb]

24 minutes ago, FLips said:

Not surprising given the rest of the cast but I haven't watched a minute of Star Trek in my life, or any of the others I mentioned bar Space Precinct when it was on BBC2 (I think) when I was a kid.

Fair enough. I mainly tuned into Space Precinct because of my crush on Simone Bendix.

[FLips]

18 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Fair enough. I mainly tuned into Space Precinct because of my crush on Simone Bendix.

Honestly I remember it mostly because I used to have a metal fold-out tv dinner tray with it on and remember sat watching it eating mini apple turnovers as a kid and having my first ever panic attack. My second ever panic attack came when I was watching Star Wars Episode 1 in the cinema and Jar Jar Binks showed up, but I think I share that memory with a lot of people.

Edit: turns out it was plastic, here it is and only £35 on ebay.

Edited March 8, 2025 by FLips

[davertfnewman]

For looking at the Arena trailer, it's the guy who got killed first in The Raft as part of the Creepshow 2 movie. Pass out the joints, get eaten by the big piece of oil first.

[Jesse]

Watched Lisa Frankenstein last night and wish I didn't. I liked Jennifer's Body well enough, was hoping for something that would hit similar but this is a mess. Confused in its characterisation, plot, and presentation. It never commits to one thing hard enough to win you over, and I found it impossible to connect to basically anything happening.