VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[Merzbow]

42 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Bring Her Back

This was pretty good. Not as much disturbing shit as I’d been led to believe but what’s in there is really affecting. A couple walked out during the build to the climax. Wasn’t so much scary as it was disturbing and sad. Interested in what the Phillippou’s do next. Someone check to see if Paddington is alright.

I wanted to like this more, I feel like I'm in the minority that felt it was too daft to really have the emotional weight it desperately wanted to have by the end.

[wordsfromlee]

1 hour ago, Mr_Danger said:

Bring Her Back

This was pretty good. Not as much disturbing shit as I’d been led to believe but what’s in there is really affecting. A couple walked out during the build to the climax. Wasn’t so much scary as it was disturbing and sad. Interested in what the Phillippou’s do next. Someone check to see if Paddington is alright.

They're currently filming a documentary about deathmatch wrestling. One of the brothers is taking part in a match.

[Mr_Danger]

1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

I wanted to like this more, I feel like I'm in the minority that felt it was too daft to really have the emotional weight it desperately wanted to have by the end.

Yeah felt like they almost went Babadook lite on the trauma aspect of the film. Traded in for a few really uncomfortable practical effects that had me wincing. Like Talk To Me It’ll be a big hit on streaming I think.

[FLips]

Murder by Death

A parody of various detective novels and characters and featuring an all-star cast.
It has it’s moments but a lot of the jokes were lost on me, the same way someone watching Scary Movie in 2050 wouldn’t get a lot of the references.

The real crime here is Peter Sellers in full Chinaman-face for the entire film and he maybe has more dialogue than anyone else in it. 
 

Dumb and Dumber

Still hilarious. Some of it I’d either forgot or was new to me because it’s the extended uncut version, such as Lloyd saying if Harry had boobs he’d shag him in the hot tub.

Must have worn the tape out on this one as a kid and still burst out laughing at most of the jokes.

[Hannibal Scorch]

I know everyone will remember my posting of the trailer to The Naked Gun in the things you know are going to be shit thread.

So I’m here to admit I was wrong. TNG was much better, funnier and entertaining than the trailer (to me) made it out. I’d happily have another trilogy if they can keep the funnies. Also like the original a swift 85 minute run time means it doesn’t outstay its welcome. For those that care 

Spoiler

Cody is in this less then Becky Lynch was in Happy Gilmore 2

But overall a fun time was had at the movies and I’m glad I saw it.

[Onyx2]

17 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

TNG was much better

 

[HarmonicGenerator]

3 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I know everyone will remember my posting of the trailer to The Naked Gun in the things you know are going to be shit thread.

So I’m here to admit I was wrong. TNG was much better, funnier and entertaining than the trailer (to me) made it out. I’d happily have another trilogy if they can keep the funnies. Also like the original a swift 85 minute run time means it doesn’t outstay its welcome. For those that care 

  Hide contents

Cody is in this less then Becky Lynch was in Happy Gilmore 2

But overall a fun time was had at the movies and I’m glad I saw it.

Same here, I had fun with it. Probably more chuckles than big laughs, but there were a few big laughs for me (there were a couple of sequences in the middle that I found really funny).

There was a character who showed up partway through who I thought looked oddly familiar but just couldn’t place.

Then the credits rolled and Cody Rhodes was fifth or sixth billed! It took me another moment to realise… “Cody Rhodes was in this? Who was … oh! That character was Cody Rhodes!” Did not clock him at all.

[wordsfromlee]

Happy Gilmore 2

Enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. Some decent jokes in it but way too long and way too many unneeded cameos, especially golfers. The original was never a movie for golf fans about golf, it was just a dumb comedy that happened to involve golf so I don't know why they pandered to the golf crowd so much with this one.

Sandlers daughters were the MVPs.

[SaitoRyo]

A Simple Favor

Watched this on holiday in Egypt, on a poxy hotel television with Arabic subtitles. It was one of a few things we watched on the one channel showing English-language films. It's also not something I would have chosen to watch otherwise, or that I'll ever watch again. Wanted to like it, but the tone was all over the place and I didn't like the pace or performances. Won't be checking out the sequel, sorry.

The Commuter

Another Egyptian TV watch by necessity. Preposterous actioner starring Liam Neeson that I had assumed was a straight-to-VOD vehicle but am now reading grossed $130m on a $30m budget?! Fair play. I fell asleep towards the end but it didn't seem like it was completely shite or anything. 

Copycat

This is more like it. Mid-90s serial killer psychological thriller with Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter, who are both ace. I liked this a lot, despite twigging halfway through that I've seen it before (more than a decade ago) but had somehow completely forgotten about it. Glad I watched it again, as it's something of a hidden gem. 

Murphy's Law

Typical Charles Bronson 80s revenge crime thriller. You know exactly what you're getting here and you get it.

Masquerade

Another 80s crime thriller/drama with noirish undertones, set in the Hamptons and starring Rob Lowe and Meg Tilly. Average fare, to be honest. Doesn't have the style that something like De Palm's odes to Hitchcock do, but it's not completely without merit, either. 

8 Million Ways to Die

Hal Ashby's last film. Nothing about it that really says 'this is a Hal Ashby film', which is unsurprising since he was fired after principal photography wrapped (and was in the throes of addiction during filming). Not a happy set, apparently, and the finish film was a box-office bomb that audiences and critics apparently hated. And yet...it's really not bad? It's not amazing or anything, but it's a pretty damn decent slice of 80s neo-noir in the Miami Vice/Scarface mould with a solid central performance from Jeff Bridges. 

[Devon Malcolm]

Jurassic World Rebirth (cinema)

Let's face it, this franchise is very bad and that this half-decent actioner is the second best it has to offer is not a good look. No idea what Scarlett Johansson is doing in this, but it's been a hit so fair play to her. I enjoyed it.

Ballerina

Great fun. Considering its production history, it has no right to be as enjoyable and coherent as it is. The flamethrower scene is ridiculous but amazing ridiculous.

Heads of State (Prime)

First third is a load of old unfunny shit. The rest of it is a blast with a bunch of cracking action scenes. Big Match John and Idris outgunned by Priyanka Chopra though. Enjoying seeing Paddy Considine playing villain for hire in some action stuff these days.

Belle de Jour

Luis Bunuel made the least horny horny film of all time and it's as great as you've heard.

Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte

Excellent, high-pitched melodrama with an amazing ending and surprisingly violent. Bette Davis the GOAT. Almost as good as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

The Bayou

Absolutely shite horror film about a bunch of people who crash land, I don't know, in Florida or somewhere and get stalked by an alligator which has mutated through crystal meth run-off polluting its river. Fuck's sake.

Ice Road: Vengeance

Remember the Liam Neeson actioner The Ice Road? No of course you don't but they did a sequel anyway. Hardly any ice, amazingly mean-spirited, Li Bingbing kicking the shit out of people, a mixed bag therefore.

Decision to Leave (BBC iPlayer)

Shouldn't have taken as long to rewatch this as I did. One of the best films of the decade by some distance. Hauntingly depressing and incredible to look at. Tang Wei is incredible.

All the President's Men

I think this might be the best film of the 1970s now. I'll watch it for the 68th time just to be sure. Fuck it, let's stand by the boys.

Sneakers

Because I hadn't watched it in over a year.

Jaws

It's a good film imo.

Jaws 2

So's this.

[thevestofdeanambrose]

Got a ticket through work to the premiere of Weapons on Tuesday. Can't wait. Absolutely buzzing to see it. Hope it lives up to and surpasses Barbarian

[BomberPat]

absolutely loved The Naked Gun; I thought the first trailer was awful (it works a lot better as the opening to the movie), and that the entire idea of rebooting it was awful, but  then every subsequent trailer suggested a little something to mean they had got it right (the "Miranda Rights" joke was what turned the corner for me), and then a comedian friend of mine was raving about it and saying they had basically nailed it, so I figured I had to give it a try.

There were some jokes or ideas that didn't quite land for me, but that's really no worse a hit-rate than the original movies, and it actually felt closer in tone to Police Squad at times than to the Naked Gun films, and I mean that as a big compliment. I joked - and still half believe - when this was announced that it was only happening because someone in a Hollywood boardroom mixed up the names "Liam Neeson" and "Lesley Nielsen" and tried to style it out, but Neeson was fantastic. 

It had that Zucker Brothers commitment to having a joke or a sight gag every 30-40 seconds, so it just flew by, and if a joke didn't work for you, it doesn't matter because there's another one along so quickly that does. Seeing the 85 minute runtime was definitely a selling point in convincing me to go to the cinema and watch it, too!

Oh, and funny credits. A dying artform. Just the odd joke name or credit thrown in there, which I always appreciate.

[BigJag]

Salaar, is a South Indian action epic that stars Prabhas. He was the hero in Bhaubali. It's set in dystopian modern times. Tries hard to be better than it actually is. Very well made, they certainly don't scrimp on the settings and aesthetic. The music and direction is suitably dramatic and coupled with the use of colour. Produces a satisfying visual feast. The story is about loyalty and the demands it puts on the films lead. Supported by a strong cast of Teleugu actors. Even has a bit of wrestling at the beginning. Came out in 2023. So should be available in most places.

 

They've split it over two films. Pt2 should be out this year.

Edited August 5, 2025 by BigJag

[johnnyboy]

4 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I joked - and still half believe - when this was announced that it was only happening because someone in a Hollywood boardroom mixed up the names "Liam Neeson" and "Lesley Nielsen" and tried to style it out

Which in itself would be a great Naked Gun-esque joke.

We watched the original trilogy (and Top Secret!) over the weekend to get in the mood and being completely up for it helped.  Neeson's gruff voiceover doesn't hit the same funnybone for me as Nielsen's, but that was the only real detractor for me.

[BomberPat]

I think Neeson's style of acting works for a modern audience; Nielsen was effectively pastiching his own generation of actors, he was very 1960s leading man, while Neeson's voiceover is much more in line with more modern action movies - there's an early monologue about waking up in his cop house and looking at a photo of his dead cop wife that was absolutely perfect. But Nielsen is so tied in to some of my favourite comedy moments that he seems more inherently funny as a result.

It'll be interesting to see if this takes Liam Neeson's career in a new direction; he's a much bigger name than Nielsen was, in terms of making the pivot to doing comedy, but he also had the weird post-Taken run typecast as an older action star, so this could be the route out of that.