VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[SaitoRyo]

At Close Range

First viewing for about thirteen years or something. I was inspired to watch it again after the recent passing of director James Foley.

What the hell took me so long? This is a great film that grabs you from the first note of its excellent score. It looks beautiful, features tremendous performances from Christopher Walken, Sean Penn and everyone else and has a mood, feel and style to it that films just don't have anymore.

Really underrated gem that you should definitely check out if you've not seen it and are into crime dramas/small town neo noirs. If you have seen it and, like me, haven't for a long while, it's well worth a revisit. 

[Devon Malcolm]

Final Destination: Bloodlines

The Final Destination code is They'reAllTheFuckingSame. 

[johnnyboy]

Mission Impossible: Pony Reckoning

Pony.  Absolute pony.  It felt like a third of the runtime was taken up by flashbacks and flashbacks of the flashbacks in case you'd missed it the first 3 times

Spoiler

Take a drink every time they show the computer terminal break in scene from the first film!

Obligatory praise for the stunt work.

Edit: another hour is taken up by Cruise running, which long time fans recognise as one of the hallmarks of the series.

Edited May 19, 2025 by johnnyboy

[Hannibal Scorch]

3 hours ago, johnnyboy said:

Mission Impossible: Pony Reckoning

Pony.  Absolute pony.  It felt like a third of the runtime was taken up by flashbacks and flashbacks of the flashbacks in case you'd missed it the first 3 times

  Reveal hidden contents

Take a drink every time they show the computer terminal break in scene from the first film!

Obligatory praise for the stunt work.

Edit: another hour is taken up by Cruise running, which long time fans recognise as one of the hallmarks of the series.

I didn’t hate it as much as you. But a very disappointing follow up to the last few films. Big shame.

[johnnyboy]

4 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

...a very disappointing follow up to the last few films. Big shame.

Yeah, the not coming close to either my expectations or the standards set by other films in the same series are what really chaffed my plums rather than it being objectively terrible.

An alternative, slightly spoilery, name for the last installment:

Spoiler

Mission Impossible: The Final Retconning.

 

[Hannibal Scorch]

It’s alright Johnnyboy, we all know the best film coming out this week involves a dog who might actually be an Alien set in Hawaii anyway.

[DavidB6937]

Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning

Went into this one as blind as possible. Didn't bother with any reviews or anything else because I was going to see it anyway obviously.

Bad:

• Definitely too long
• Too many flashbacks (especially grating when you've just watched them all to refresh before this one! They repeat stuff less on Raw!)
• Some of the callbacks definitely felt like someone just watched the older films and randomly picked stuff to throw in again
• Esai Morales was a little too hammy in the role for my liking (I know, it's not exactly a series of Oscar worthy performances but still)

Good:

• The set pieces were incredible and they managed to make a lot of it feel real which is sometimes missing
• Some really great tension built because it was the 'final' one (who knows with these things!) so there were genuine stakes there
• Despite the randomness of the callbacks, I did actually like a couple of them so I'll stick it in this list too
• It just felt like a true Hollywood blockbuster cinema film and I fucking love them, especially in IMAX

Was it the best one? Absolutely not.

Did I have a damn good time? Hell yes. Exactly what I want from a cinema trip.

4 rabbits feet out of 5 for me. Probably drop one for home release just because the experience itself was part of the joy.

[johnnyboy]

56 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Despite the randomness of the callbacks, I did actually like a couple of them so I'll stick it in this list too

Spoiler

Computer man from the first film being sent to (almost) Siberia was actually a highlight for me.

 

[Bellenda Carlisle]

On 5/17/2025 at 3:05 PM, Devon Malcolm said:

The Surfer (cinema)

The first thing I wonder when I see a new Nicolas Cage film is if you've seen it, @Bellenda Carlisle! This one was....odd. Cage is excellent in it but the film itself is, I think, trying to be a sort of Wake in Fright update and it never really worked for me. It will be divisive.

I'm flattered, I have seen it, I really liked it even though I've never particularly cared for films where you're not really sure what's real or not etc. This one worked for me though. It looked really nice and the setting and the territorial surfers was such an alien vibe to me that it kept it interesting. Probably wouldn't have enjoyed it half as much with another lead but if anyone can carry a descent into madness thriller it's Big Nic. Also at points the film was legitimately fucking disgusting which I didn't expect.

 

On 5/18/2025 at 4:12 PM, gmoney said:

I will say I love Lou Gossett Jr and I will watch him in anything. 

Have you seen Firewalker (1986) with Chuck Norris? I'm quite big fan of that one, great tongue in cheek action adventure. It also features the lovely Melody Anderson from Flash Gordon who was never in enough stuff.

[gmoney]

19 minutes ago, Bellenda Carlisle said:

Have you seen Firewalker (1986) with Chuck Norris? I'm quite big fan of that one, great tongue in cheek action adventure. It also features the lovely Melody Anderson from Flash Gordon who was never in enough stuff.

I have. I would struggle to call it good or successful at what it's trying to do, but I enjoyed despite itself. 

[Jesse]

Saw Mission Impossible in IMAX last night. Tom Cruise's big face at the start telling me that they worked hard to make the movie for me, thanks Tom! 

Is it a good film? Impossible to tell. 100 stars

 

Spoiler

Some of the biplane stunts were insane. I've seen some BTS clips but I absolutely need a 30min making of documentary on a 4K blu-ray asap

 

[Hannibal Scorch]

Lilo and Stitch - More unnecessary Disney live action remake but this is based on one of their more neurodivergent coded, and from that time period, best efforts.

It does a good job of keeping some things very close to the 2002 original but also adding its own twists and additions to the lore. In the end I think it justifies the remake treatment, just. Dean Fleischer Camp (who also directed the excellent Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) does a good job. Some shoddy CG (standard now days) aside, the main characters are well cast, especially Maia Kealoha as Lilo who adds more emotion to the character and relationship with Stitch then the animated original. And Stitch is still adorable. 3/5.

[britboy_93]

Jacob’s Ladder 1990! Absolute Classic!

[HarmonicGenerator]

7 hours ago, Jesse said:

Is it a good film? Impossible to tell. 100 stars
 

That’s pretty much my feeling as well. I’m not sure if it’s “good”, but I had a great time, especially during the set pieces which are spectacular.

[Jesse]

Aye, the kind of thing where it's so hard to judge on its own merits - where I don't think it holds up - it's the end of a decade-spanning franchise where audience investment and connection has grown over time rather than slowly dwindled and it's far more interested in paying that feeling off than in sitting you down and giving you a standalone movie. Impossible to divorce it from its context and trying to do so feels like doing it a disservice, it's not interested in doing that for itself.

It's probably the one I'll revisit the least, but it's the one I've had the best first-time experience with.