VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[Devon Malcolm]

42 minutes ago, Onyx2 said:

Read and reread this for about two minutes trying to make sense of it because I thought you were reviewing Sneakers. 

Oh no, Sneakers is an absolute classic and I've watched it at least 18 times.

[FLips]

The Irishman

Another day, another epic mafia movie, this one thankfully with zero rapes in it.
Scorcese directs, and DeNiro, Pacino and Pesci star, so it’s got a very solid foundation.
There’s an all star cast backing them up too with Ray Romano, Harvey Keitel and Stephen Graham in big roles, and a lot of Sopranos alumni too.

DeNiro is in a nursing home narrating his story about joining the mob and working his way up it, and his relationship with Teamster Union leader Jimmy Hoffa. Mostly character building between Pesci and DeNiro in the first hour or so until Pacino as Hoffa joins the cast and then it starts revving up building to everything boiling over in the final 1/3.

We thought though it could have trimmed a little fat for a shorter run time, and the wonky de-aging CGI takes some getting used to (including a pretty sad fight scene outside a grocery store) it was an excellent film. None of the leads miss a beat for their age, Pacino especially is tremendous throughout. Has a much sadder ending than you would anticipate but I think grounding it in reality like that really brought it home solid.

Overall we thought it was brilliant.

Edited May 7, 2025 by FLips

[SaitoRyo]

Lone Star State of Mind

A movie without a Wikipedia page but it does have John 'Cougar' Mellencamp in a supporting role so, really, who are you going to trust?

It's a southern comedy/crime film from 2002 about a guy who has to deal with a bunch of shit, like his idiot cousin ripping off the mob, his girlfriend bugging him to finally move out of their small town etc. 

It's actually a bunch of fun and not quite the 'American Pie in Texas' affair I assumed it was going to be based on the poster and whatnot. It's dumb, yes, but breezy and there's a couple of laughs to be found. One of the lads from Dawson's Creek (not Dawson) is the lead, with the likes of DJ Qualls and Thomas Hayden Church showing up to do their bit. 

White Sands

What a cast this one has! Willem Dafoe, Mickey Rourke, E Emmett Walsh, Samuel L Jackson and other familiar faces feature in this twisty crime about a small-town cop who tries to solve the mystery when a dead body and $500,000 in a suitcase show up in the desert and, predictably, gets in way over his head.

It sort of loses steam about halfway through, but there's good stuff in here and it's a decent noirish neo-western. Admittedly, the plot doesn't make a tonne of sense at times, but it's good to look at, has some cracking dialogue woven throughout and it's the sort of entertaining, genre-bending mid-budget thriller that just doesn't get made anymore, so I liked it. 

[TheBurningRed]

I also watched The Irishman the other night @FLips and throughly enjoyed it. Much more than I did the first time. Don’t know if you saw, but there’s also a half hour companion piece where Scorsese, De Niro, Pesci and Pacino sit down and have a chat. 

[FLips]

20 minutes ago, TheBurningRed said:

I also watched The Irishman the other night @FLips and throughly enjoyed it. Much more than I did the first time. Don’t know if you saw, but there’s also a half hour companion piece where Scorsese, De Niro, Pesci and Pacino sit down and have a chat. 

Sounds interesting, I’ll check it out!

[Surf Digby]

Lifeforce

Daft 80s space vampire film from Cannon, infamous for Mathilda May spending the first twenty minutes or so stark naked. I saw some of this way back as a young 'un, when my Mum rented it from the video shop, thinking it would just be some typical cheap sci-fi. Young me was very much enjoying it until my sister ratted me out.

Anyway, it's a film with much visual promise, but lacking in substance. Far too much of the film is people explaining things for the benefit of the viewer, when most of them wouldn't care anyway because VAMPIRES FROM SPACE.

The spacey, composite stuff all looks great, courtesy of John Dykstra, and the practical effects range from brilliant (reanimate corpses), to "well, at least they tried" (Patrick Stewart's blood vomiting head).

The ending was really abrupt too, leaving a lack of satisfaction.

[mim731]

The Crow (2024)

Jesus Christ, who thought that was a good idea. It's like the worst parts of a Die Antwoord  video imaginable made into a film, and worse it doesn't make any sense. It's not even a remake really, the connections to the premise of the original are tenuous at best. Massive pile of shit. 

[air_raid]

Finally got to see Wicked. MCU count = 3.

It hits all the usual Disney cliches but they made a gorgeous world, visibly, and Ariana Grande is fantastically convincing at playing a total moron. Mrs raid suggests this involves no actual acting talent.

[DavidB6937]

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

Finally got to see Wicked. MCU count = 3.

It hits all the usual Disney cliches but they made a gorgeous world, visibly, and Ariana Grande is fantastically convincing at playing a total moron. Mrs raid suggests this involves no actual acting talent.

It's definitely up there with the top movies that I really really didn't want to see but came away completely won over. 

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

12 hours ago, air_raid said:

Finally got to see Wicked. MCU count = 3.

It hits all the usual Disney cliches but they made a gorgeous world, visibly, and Ariana Grande is fantastically convincing at playing a total moron. Mrs raid suggests this involves no actual acting talent.

Well she did have plenty of practice with all the years spent playing Cat Valentine in Victorious and Sam and Cat for that creep Dan Schneider at Nickelodeon 

[FLips]

Scarface
Unstable and violent Cuban refugee Tony Montana comes to America with his unfairly handsome friend Manny and shit goes immediately south when Tony starts throwing his weight around with the wrong people and gets addicted to his own supply despite explicitly being asked not to do exactly that.

A fairly unique film in that there isn’t really a good vs bad dynamic, it’s just Pacino vs everyone else and the tension is waiting to see who gets sick of him first.

It’s violent, there’s plenty of action and it’s got sprinklings of humour, there’s enough going on with the backdrop of Castro, and his tug of war with various gang leaders that you can bite your teeth into it.

Pacino is excellent in this but I couldn’t stop thinking about Razor Ramon, mang.

Heat
Homicide detective Al Pacino is tracking a violent group of criminals that include Val Kilmer and Robert DeNiro as they plan one last big score.

Pacino vs DeNiro has a Rock vs Austin “both men need to win and neither man can afford to lose” vibe to it which elevates it above a plain heist movie. There are a lot of moving parts to help build the world around them such as Natalie Portman’s issues with her deadbeat off-screen Dad, unstable prostitute killer Waingro, and Pacino’s failing marriage. It feels like a fully realised world rather than a good vs bad. There’s a lot at stake outside of the heist.

The two leads are at their peaks, the action is constantly exciting, and Pacino has a little twinkle in his eyes every time he gets to ham it up. I personally would have cut a little meat off the bone to get it closer to 2 hours than 3, and I don’t buy into DeNiro’s romance side of things at all especially as the film builds his philosophy as the exact opposite of what he does.

Excellent film though.

 

[TheBurningRed]

The bank robbery and the shootout that follows is probably my favourite sequence in a movie ever. Val Kilmer oozes cool throughout that whole part. I think Heat might be my favourite film now seeing as I watch it at least three times a year. Could do without De Niro’s love story though. 

[SuperBacon]

I absolutely love Heat (and Scarface) and I can't really explain this any further but for me Heat has to be watched on a Sunday evening.

It's a Sunday night film for me.

Edit: forgot to add what is probably my favourite scene of all time as Pacinos delivery is unrivalled. Its like he forgets the line and thinks he should say "Big ass" and then remembers its "great ass"

Amazing.

 

Edited May 9, 2025 by SuperBacon
All the way up it!

[Lorne Malvo]

Sunday Night Heat, you say?

[cobra_gordo]

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

I absolutely love Heat (and Scarface) and I can't really explain this any further but for me Heat has to be watched on a Sunday evening.

It's a Sunday night film for me.

Edit: forgot to add what is probably my favourite scene of all time as Pacinos delivery is unrivalled. Its like he forgets the line and thinks he should say "Big ass" and then remembers its "great ass"

Amazing.

 

There's an interview where he pretty much admits to going full method for that scene because "Oh, I think this character does cocaine". Man was coked off his nut screaming at Hank Azaria.