VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[davertfnewman]

Reservoir Dogs

Surprisingly, the first time I've seen it. I knew two things about it: the ear scene and that someone in it wasn't all that they seemed, but otherwise fresh to me. Tarantino is irritating in a genuinely irritating way, whereas Buscemi is irritating in a well-designed way (which might be because Tarantino was going to play him originally). A lot of the guys are wearing very obvious makeup, Madsen especially. It's unapologetic in how of its time it is with the language and things said. Watching it at the time, I probably would've seen the main cast as bad guys rather than cool guys. There is a good father/son relationship with White and Orange. Apparently Lawrence Tierney was a nightmare on the level of Robert Blake. It's a film I could easily watch and like without falling in love with.

[Bellenda Carlisle]

The Villain (1979)

Someone online was slagging off Norbit - the Eddie Murphy flop, I said I was quite fond of it as I'm a big fan of films that give off the vibe of a live action cartoon and cited Baby's Day Out as another flop I like for the same reason. Another person then told me if I like cartoon-like films I should check out The Villain. So I watched it and it did live up to its selling point of being cartoonish. I only knew this as the film Arnold Schwarzenegger is in as a cowboy in a powder blue suit, if I knew the premise was it was meant to be like an old looney tunes cartoon come to life I would have watched it 30 years ago. Kirk Douglas is a mean outlaw in the old west but has the same luck as wile e coyote when it comes to pulling off his schemes, constantly falling over, failing and getting injured and shit, even his trusty horse is a dick to him. Ann-Margaret is the horniest woman ever and Arnie is a virginal stupid cowboy with a good heart. Ann-Margaret and Arnie are amazing looking people, they look beautiful in this. Kirk looks cool too, visually I liked the whole film. The comedy was extremely broad and basic, like silent slapstick movie type stuff only more OTT. It was a weird film, definitely wasn't amazing but it was really short and I've never seen anything quite like it so it gets a thumbs up, the ending is extremely stupid and weird and sudden.

Problem Child

Now we're talking, after watching the villain I was in the mood for more cartoonish stupidness. I loved problem child as a kid and can't remember the last time I saw it. I give this film a 6 out of 5, I absolutely love it. It's a kids film that's so close to not being appropriate for a kids at all. It's about a naughty 7 year old who can't get adopted because he's too bad, this kid is a prankster with extreme prejudice and makes Macauley Culkin in Home alone look like a little pussy. There's a scene where junior (the kid) plays a baseball game and when it's his turn with the bat he just beats up the other kids with it, he tries to get a campsite of families eaten by a bear and runs away with a serial killer, he takes naughty to the extreme. I still find Junior endearing though and I really like his voice. John Ritter and Amy Yasbeck are great as the social climbing yuppie couple that adopt him, I thought Amy Yasbeck was gorgeous when I was a kid and she looks even better now I'm age appropriate, her comeuppance seems a bit harsh but this is such a mad edgy over the top film that I can't be mad at it. 

[BigJag]

Thanks for highlighting The Villain. I'll definitely track that down. 

[SaitoRyo]

Chasers

Two Naval officers (Tom Berenger and William McNamara) are tasked with escorting someone back to prison. They think it's some guy called Tony, but - get this - it's actually a beautiful woman named Toni (former Playboy playmate and Baywatch star Erika Eleniak). 

She spends most of the rest of the film trying to escape from them in this comedy road movie, which was directed by Dennis Hopper, who also provides a cameo. It's all rather predictible, but fun, and I can't dislike a film that is almost entirely soundtracked by Dwight Yoakam songs.

I think people hated on this at the time because Hopper had directed much more interesting films like Easy Rider, The Last Movie and Out of the Blue etc., but it's really not all that bad and the supporting cast of Crispin Glover, Dean Stockwell and Gary Busey add to the fun.

[BomberPat]

11 hours ago, FLips said:

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension

An unbelievably good cast try their hardest but struggle to do much with this mess of a film. I hear it’s a cult favourite but I came away from it disappointed they never got this lot together for something better. 
There’s nothing wrong with campy send-ups of sci-fi and comic books, and there’s nothing really wrong with great actors hamming it up to make the most of a bad script, but this commits the cardinal sin of being incredibly boring.

One of the best parts about it is the end credits, and that’s not a slight. They actually do something fun with it.

I watched it a couple of weeks ago, and I genuinely have absolutely no idea what was going on at any given time. I think if they had tonally pitched it either as a goofy kids' film or as serious sci-fi, it might have worked. but it just felt like they had no idea who they were making the film for, and characters seem to spend more time talking about wacky sci-fi concepts than actually doing anything with them. Didn't get it at all.

[Chest Rockwell]

8 hours ago, Bellenda Carlisle said:

It's a kids film that's so close to not being appropriate for a kids at all.

I feel like I have to revisit it as my memory of watching it as a kid was feeling like it was definitely not appropriate for me and I shouldn't be watching it at all. Michael Richards is in it as well, isn't he?

[SuperBacon]

27 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Michael Richards is in it as well, isn't he?

Yes, he plays Beck, the serial killer friend of Juniors. 

One of the first films I saw at the cinema, absolutely rinsed it as a kid with my sisters.

[hallicks]

Total Recall (1990) - Prince Charles Cinema

Great to watch this in a theatre. It’s a great time and the action is brilliant. 10/10, no notes. 

First time at the PCC. Lovely venue.  Apologies if you were in row D and you had to stand up to let me in during the ads. The guy should have sent me the other way! 

[DavidB6937]

Inception

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but what a damn good cinematic experience, especially in IMAX.

Obviously I've seen it a billion times before but Zimmer's score on those speakers is phenomenal.

[Bellenda Carlisle]

13 hours ago, SaitoRyo said:

Chasers

I loved this film as I was obsessed with Erika Eleniak when it came out (still a fan). You're a real gentleman to review it and not talk about how good the nude scene is. 

12 hours ago, Chest Rockwell said:

I feel like I have to revisit it as my memory of watching it as a kid was feeling like it was definitely not appropriate for me and I shouldn't be watching it at all. Michael Richards is in it as well, isn't he?

Yeah Michael Richards is the serial killer, he has a great haircut in it that makes him really look the part of a cartoony old school serial killer, Gilbert Gottfried is in it too. I was reading about Problem Child after watching it and it was not well received, apparently it was conceived as a nasty satire for adults but the studio insisted it be a kids film and no one was happy with the finished product. I was not surprised to find that out, I think it's one of the reasons I like it so much though. You should watch it with your kids.

 

[SaitoRyo]

Mr. Majestyk

All Vince Majestyk (Charles Bronson) wants to do is farm his melons, but people just keep fucking with him and the Vietnam veteran is forced to respond. 

As always, it's a Charles Bronson action vehicle, so you get the general idea, but this is well directed and has a solid supporting cast. There's a really fucking good car chase towards the end, too. 

[FLips]

Toy Soldiers

Buncha delinquents lead by Sean Astin and Wil Wheaton are put in an awkward scenario when terrorists take over their school hoping to hold the kid of the federal judge hostage so he’ll free the main terrorist’s Dad.

It’s an ok film held up almost entirely by Andrew Divoff as the main bad guy. He’s throwing women out windows, shooting teachers in the head, and threatening to kill all the kids. I did think he was Josh Hartnett for almost the entire film, regardless of age.

It’s hard to get behind the kids when the main plot point is they’re all sons of millionaires and billionaires and they’re all dickhead kids too. Wil Wheaton is rubbish and at one point he gets gunned to death on the stairs and instead of sympathy, all I could think was “yeah fair enough”.

Fine for a once through, there’s a decent turn when the Mafia get involved. I wouldn’t watch it again though.

Yes Man

Not Carrey’s finest. We turned it off when we got to the scene where the old woman sucks his dick. Can’t be doing with it.

[Chest Rockwell]

11 hours ago, FLips said:

It’s an ok film held up almost entirely by Andrew Divoff

I've only ever seen him in Wishmaster. I imagine he is equally hammy in this, which makes it sound almost worth watching it for...

[FLips]

The Big Country

Fantastic, easy-going Western starring Gregory Peck as a gentleman who looks to be marrying into a civil war over a small bit of land. Rightfully so he realises the woman he’s marrying is a selfish bore and fucks her completely off halfway into the 3 hour runtime and she’s barely seen again. He falls in love with the owner of said land and uses his charm to somewhat negotiate an understanding between the two sides. 
It’s funny, charming and looks stunning throughout. Peck has a real presence as the honourable and dignified city boy in the middle of the wild west.

Field of Dreams

Kevin Costner puts his family’s livelihood in jeopardy when he obliterates half the crops on the farm he just spent his life savings on and builds a baseball field so Ray Liotta can play baseball on it.

As someone who also likes baseball and hasn’t spoken to his Dad for the better part of two decades, something about the film really spoke to me. Really enjoyed it.

[Mr_Danger]

On 8/20/2025 at 10:27 PM, Bellenda Carlisle said:

I loved this film as I was obsessed with Erika Eleniak when it came out (still a fan). You're a real gentleman to review it and not talk about how good the nude scene is. 

Yeah Michael Richards is the serial killer, he has a great haircut in it that makes him really look the part of a cartoony old school serial killer, Gilbert Gottfried is in it too. I was reading about Problem Child after watching it and it was not well received, apparently it was conceived as a nasty satire for adults but the studio insisted it be a kids film and no one was happy with the finished product. I was not surprised to find that out, I think it's one of the reasons I like it so much though. You should watch it with your kids.

 

Was it the first or the second one where Junior sells bottles of piss disguised as lemonade?