VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[SaitoRyo]

Vice Squad (1982)

A proper grimy crime thriller about a prostitute who reluctantly teams up with the cops in order to take down a violent pimp who is mutilating and killing women. It's got that 80s LA setting that is super seedy and clearly influenced stuff like MaXXXine. I had the same sort of feeling as I did while watching Lucio Fulci's The New York Ripper, though it's not quite as nasty and exploitative as that. It's actually a decent, overlooked little movie that doesn't pull many punches and features some really strong performances. 

[waters44]

I watched The Smashing Machine

I thought Dwayne was excellent in one scene, pretty bad in a few others, then mostly average to good. 

But the story…

Spoiler

Fuck me what a rubbish story? I didn’t know anything about Mark Kerr so I was on a ride with it fully expecting a Mark Coleman vs Mark Kerr showdown to bring the film to a close. But no it just ends with a bit of a whimper. I get that it’s all about his battle with pain meds and self doubt eg but I’m kind of amazed that his story has been turned into a film. Surely there must be other MMA stories more worthy / entertaining?! I think a Coleman biopic would have been better tbh!

Anyway I loved the look of it and the set design. Decent effort 

[BomberPat]

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

I think I was in the right mood for it, because I could see a lot of it grating on me had I been in a different frame of mind, yet I absolutely loved it. Daniel Radcliffe is brilliant, it's a great satire of the self-serious mythmaking of music biopics (every scene where Al is inspired to write a song is fantastic), and just fantastically stupid without ever resorting to winking to camera about how smart they're being. Good silly fun. It has no business being almost two hours long, though.

[Hannibal Scorch]

Huge Tron apologist, I love the franchise even though I know they aren’t “good” films. My expectations were low ever since Jared Leto was announced, and the fact Tron 3 was announced/cancelled a few times over the last 15 years. So I went into Tron Ares with very low expectations. IMAX 3D was the chosen format. Rare trip to the cinema with little bro. 
 

All that to say, I had an absolute blast. Yes, the story was (mostly) bobbins, yes Leto was dogshit. But the visuals were great, the NiN score was very decent and the rest of the cast did their best to cover for Leto’s crap acting. And it had some great nods/easter eggs to prior entries. Despite their best efforts, I don’t see Tron 4 being put into production anytime soon unless the film does decent box office numbers (looking unlikely. The Jared Leto Curse) but I’d love to see it, and in less than another decade.

[SaitoRyo]

Grandview USA

A really rather enjoyable small-town comedy drama/slice of Americana movie from 1984. 

It's basically about this kid who is graduating from high school and plans to reject a scholarship in favour of studying oceanography elsewhere, much to the dismay of his family. As he's trying to figure himself out, he becomes involved in the lives of others, including a divorced 27-year-old woman who is trying to keep her family's small speedway business afloat. Lives intersect, hearts break etc.

Oh, did I mention that the 27-year-old divorcee is played by prime Jamie Lee Curtis in cowboy boots? I mean, are you kidding me? What are we even talking about here? Plus it has prime Jennifer Jason Leigh in it and Patrick Swayze playing a lovelorn loose cannon. M. Emmett Walsh shows up in a small role, too, because he always does. 

Much better than some would lead you to believe, this (some cracking songs on the soundtrack as well).

Edited October 13, 2025 by SaitoRyo

[cobra_gordo]

Reunion. Utter dogshit. Never really gets out of first gear, just plods, and whilst there's a couple of chuckles I was hoping for so much more as I do like Lil Rel Howery, Billy Magnussen and Jillian Bell .It also fails as a whodunnit as it's obvious within the first 15 minutes who the killer is going to be.

K-Pop Demon Hunters. Mrs Gordo and our eldest went away for the weekend so I offered to watch this with our anime-obsessed youngest son. He'd already seen it, I'd heard good things and thought we could have some nice father-son time watching films together and eating snacks. "Press play and I'll be down in a minute dad" he shouted from his bedroom. Didn't see him after that for about three hours so I ended up watching this on my own. I'm not in to anime (other than Akira/ Ghibli stuff) and I'm not in to K-POP either but Jesus Christ, this is such a great film. It definitely lives up to the hype. I had to ask him if it was based on a series or anything as the characters are just really defined from the second it starts. The songs are all great, the animation feels very In To The Spiderverse meets Big Hero 6. Genuinely glad I've seen it.

Halloween (1978). Ah, the season of sticking slasher films on in the background that I've seen a million times and can enjoy just by listening to has begun. Mentioned this earlier in the thread that whilst Halloween 2 isn't terrible, the original and the 2018 ones are the only ones that really count. Can't really say anything that hasn't been said before, it's a classic, Jamie Lee Curtis is brilliant, the soundtrack is iconic. 5 pumpkins out of 5.

Scream. Probably my favourite ever slasher film. Seen it a million times to the point it's a comfort watch now. Will probably watch it at least once more before the end of the year.

Scream 2. Definitely the strongest of the sequels, I'd say it's almost on a par with the first one. Self-referential and funny without it being a parody of itself. The bit with Luke Wilson playing Billy Loomis still cracks me up.

 

[theringmaster]

On 10/12/2025 at 2:16 AM, Hannibal Scorch said:

Huge Tron apologist, I love the franchise even though I know they aren’t “good” films. My expectations were low ever since Jared Leto was announced, and the fact Tron 3 was announced/cancelled a few times over the last 15 years. So I went into Tron Ares with very low expectations. IMAX 3D was the chosen format. Rare trip to the cinema with little bro. 
 

All that to say, I had an absolute blast. Yes, the story was (mostly) bobbins, yes Leto was dogshit. But the visuals were great, the NiN score was very decent and the rest of the cast did their best to cover for Leto’s crap acting. And it had some great nods/easter eggs to prior entries. Despite their best efforts, I don’t see Tron 4 being put into production anytime soon unless the film does decent box office numbers (looking unlikely. The Jared Leto Curse) but I’d love to see it, and in less than another decade.

Without dropping to big spoilers, does it offer any explanation/continuation of the end of the last film?

[Hannibal Scorch]

1 hour ago, theringmaster said:

Without dropping to big spoilers, does it offer any explanation/continuation of the end of the last film?

To answer in a frustrating way, yes and no.

[LaGoosh]

Highlander

Somehow had gone my whole life without seeing this. The first 5 minutes features a classic Queen song, the main character getting PTSD to a medieval battle from watching the Freebird's wrestle in Madison Square Garden, a sword fight and a decapitation that generates so much electricity about 20 cars explode. I loved it! Incredibly stupid in all the best ways but also surprisingly well shot. Loads of inventive shots, creative scene transitions and big, epic lighting. The story is absolute nonsense but the pace of the thing never gives you a moment to pick up on it. Every scene is filled with some big, hammy and fun schlock. From an accent perspective it may be the most confusing film of all time. Sean Connery is an ancient Egyptian who is supposed to have a Spanish accent but mostly talks in a Scottish one. Clancy Brown is a Russian but speaks in an American one. Christopher Lambert is a French guy who does two terrible accents - Scottish and American. It's funny as fuck. Christopher Lambert is possibly one of the worst actors I've ever seen but it's actually quite charming.

I'm sure the sequels are probably bad in a not fun way but I had such a good time with this. Fully deserving of the cult status it has acquired.

[davertfnewman]

It's actually the Meadowlands, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was MSG.

I remember watching Highlander in the early nineties and loving it and telling a friend about it. Then he asked me if I'd seen the sequel and his explanation of it is one of the most confusing conversations I've ever had.

[BomberPat]

11 minutes ago, davertfnewman said:

It's actually the Meadowlands, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was MSG.

It's the Meadowlands standing in for MSG - in the movie, they say it's Madison Square Garden, but because the WWF had exclusive rights for wrestling shows there, they couldn't actually film the match at the Garden. I don't know if they tried to talk to the WWF about it, or just figured it didn't matter.

Wrestling pops up a few times across Highlander; Roddy Piper is in an episode of the TV series, Edge is in Endgame, Batista and Drew McIntyre are due to be in the reboot, and Hulk Hogan claimed he turned down the lead role in the first film.

[King Coconut]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

Hulk Hogan claimed he turned down the lead role in the first film.

A natural choice, what with the immortality and that.

[Carbomb]

On 10/9/2025 at 4:39 PM, gmoney said:

Off sick from work the past few days, so that means spending hours on the sofa under a duvet watching films. 

Tron

Always enjoyable to see filmmakers try to make computing seem as anything other than fucking boring, and there is lots of charm, but ultimately this couldn't keep me interested. I can see why it's a cult favourite, but I wasn't sad not to have seen it before. 

Krull

Sword and sorcery, mad cast, slumming it director. Could be the recipe for outrageous fun, and it is really beautifully shot, but it really sags at some points. Still how can you not enjoy Alun Armstrong as a sexy rogue with Mark Fowler and Liam Neeson in his crew?

 

I've been getting the impression recently that Tron is a bit like The Goonies in terms of how it's received these days: they seem to be loved most by people who saw them as kids and grew up with a fond memory of them. I've met quite a few people who only saw them as adults, and consequently have rated both of them either "meh" or just bad.

Krull might be another. I haven't seen it more than two or three times in my life, but I remember seeing it as a kid, and so many images of it have stuck with me since - Bernard Bresslaw as Rell is the definitive portrayal of any cyclops in film, TV, or literature for me, and also the bit where Colwyn pulls the Glaive out of the fire.

 

On 10/12/2025 at 2:16 AM, Hannibal Scorch said:

Huge Tron apologist, I love the franchise even though I know they aren’t “good” films. My expectations were low ever since Jared Leto was announced, and the fact Tron 3 was announced/cancelled a few times over the last 15 years. So I went into Tron Ares with very low expectations. IMAX 3D was the chosen format. Rare trip to the cinema with little bro. 
 

All that to say, I had an absolute blast. Yes, the story was (mostly) bobbins, yes Leto was dogshit. But the visuals were great, the NiN score was very decent and the rest of the cast did their best to cover for Leto’s crap acting. And it had some great nods/easter eggs to prior entries. Despite their best efforts, I don’t see Tron 4 being put into production anytime soon unless the film does decent box office numbers (looking unlikely. The Jared Leto Curse) but I’d love to see it, and in less than another decade.

I'm a big fan of the original Tron, as mentioned above, but after Tron Legacy, I really don't want to see this. Legacy was bad, but in a way that ruined the franchise for me completely, and I can't quite figure out why.

There are plenty of things I can point to: the storyline from the first film being essentially recycled, a whole load of fuck-all going on despite the action, the really needlessly shoehorned-in and clumsily-expressed Holocaust reference, the complete gutting and irrelevance of the Tron character, there's so much to point at. The Daft Punk soundtrack isn't enough to save it, and it speaks volumes for how shit the film is that Michael Sheen chewing the scenery is seen as one of the few good elements when, if the film had been done well, it would've been as one of the poorer ones.

And yeh - I don't want to watch any more Jared fucking Leto. I've seen one good performance from him ever, and that will do me.

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

Highlander

Somehow had gone my whole life without seeing this. The first 5 minutes features a classic Queen song, the main character getting PTSD to a medieval battle from watching the Freebird's wrestle in Madison Square Garden, a sword fight and a decapitation that generates so much electricity about 20 cars explode. I loved it! Incredibly stupid in all the best ways but also surprisingly well shot. Loads of inventive shots, creative scene transitions and big, epic lighting. The story is absolute nonsense but the pace of the thing never gives you a moment to pick up on it. Every scene is filled with some big, hammy and fun schlock. From an accent perspective it may be the most confusing film of all time. Sean Connery is an ancient Egyptian who is supposed to have a Spanish accent but mostly talks in a Scottish one. Clancy Brown is a Russian but speaks in an American one. Christopher Lambert is a French guy who does two terrible accents - Scottish and American. It's funny as fuck. Christopher Lambert is possibly one of the worst actors I've ever seen but it's actually quite charming.

I'm sure the sequels are probably bad in a not fun way but I had such a good time with this. Fully deserving of the cult status it has acquired.

Glad you got round to this. I love this film; it's a whole load of silly bollocks, and works well for it. I still think the whole accents thing must have been a massive stoner in-joke or something.

1 hour ago, davertfnewman said:

It's actually the Meadowlands, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was MSG.

I remember watching Highlander in the early nineties and loving it and telling a friend about it. Then he asked me if I'd seen the sequel and his explanation of it is one of the most confusing conversations I've ever had.

The Quickening is terrible, and I've been meaning to check out the Renegade Version, which was a complete re-working of the film to fit the first one narratively. I was informed by the good folks on here that it's still not brilliant, but it is better. I feel that at some point I should watch it to cleanse my palate. 

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

It's the Meadowlands standing in for MSG - in the movie, they say it's Madison Square Garden, but because the WWF had exclusive rights for wrestling shows there, they couldn't actually film the match at the Garden. I don't know if they tried to talk to the WWF about it, or just figured it didn't matter.

Wrestling pops up a few times across Highlander; Roddy Piper is in an episode of the TV series, Edge is in Endgame, Batista and Drew McIntyre are due to be in the reboot, and Hulk Hogan claimed he turned down the lead role in the first film.

You could say this about almost every film ever.

[LaGoosh]

30 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

I've been getting the impression recently that Tron is a bit like The Goonies in terms of how it's received these days: they seem to be loved most by people who saw them as kids and grew up with a fond memory of them. I've met quite a few people who only saw them as adults, and consequently have rated both of them either "meh" or just bad.

Even as a kid I thought Tron was pretty boring outside of the motorbike racing stuff. But I will argue that The Goonies is a genuinely good film that still works to this day.

[Carbomb]

2 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

Even as a kid I thought Tron was pretty boring outside of the motorbike racing stuff. But I will argue that The Goonies is a genuinely good film that still works to this day.

Fair enough. As a sci-fi obsessive, I loved pretty much all of it. The lightcycles, disc battles, and tanks always stood out for me. That said, I haven't re-watched it for a few years, so it may be my nostalgia keeping that fondness alive.