VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[LaGoosh]

Kevin Bacon in Tremors is good looking, charismatic and very charming.

[gmoney]

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

Very harsh! He may not have been Hollywood handsome, but cousin Kevin definitely had something about him.

Bacon Defence: Activate 

[Cannibal Man]

1 hour ago, Nexus said:

Footloose - absolute nonsense but somewhat enjoyable. Hardest thing to believe was that Kevin Bacon was considered attractive.

pretty sure there's an interview from not long back where he mentions that he almost never got the part because the head of the studio said he wasnt fuckable 

Edited August 8 by Cannibal Man

[davertfnewman]

And those studio heads would've fucked anyone and anything back then. Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Beals, Air Bud, Herbie the Love Bug...

[mim731]

Got an early review copy of Nimrods, the new Green Day inspired comedy. It's nothing revolutionary but I quite enjoyed it. 

Review here if you can be arsed: https://filmhounds.co.uk/2026/08/07/nimrods-film-review-three-friends-having-the-time-of-their-lives/

 

[SaitoRyo]

I have been away for a few weeks visiting the folks and, after a World Cup where I watched basically nothing but football, I'm back on my bullshit watching old, usually forgotten films. 

I watched a bunch of stuff when I was away, but nothing really sticks out as particularly noteworthy to be honest. In saying that, I enjoyed The Mean Season and thought Strange Darling was worth the effort. Also got to see Jackass Forever in the cinema with my mate, which was just wonderful.

Anyway...

The Boys Next Door

Deeply unpolular high school outcasts Charlie Sheen and his mate graduate and, with a job at the factory starting on Monday, decide to leave their small California town and head to LA, leaving a trail of violence in their wake.

The point of the film is spelled out in the opening credits, which shows how real-life serial killers were all seemingly ordinary 'boy next door' types, despite having evil inside them. Sheen and his pal are a couple of young dumbassses who stumble their way through the carnage they create, but this is a pretty damn decent 90-minute teen crime thriller. Hell of an 80s soundrack, too.

[davertfnewman]

The Wikipedia entry reveals a cast and crew that could almost qualify for that film with an eclectic cast thread: stars Charlie Sheen and Maxwell Caulfield; supporting cast includes Moon Unit Zappa; written by two guys from The X-Files; directed by Penelope Spheeris.

Edited August 8 by davertfnewman

[Frankie Crisp]

We went to the local picturehouse on Friday as they were doing a one-off screening of Heat.

Christ. It’s just as good now as it was then. I was wracking my brain about which films I’ve seen in the pictures more than once - so far apart - and I could only remember T2, and seeing that last year was just as joyous and reminiscent as this.

I know it’s been chucked into that thread about the best film casts - Bob, Al, Val, JV and Sizemore - but despite how many times I’ve seen it I always pop at the supporting characters when they show up. And I don’t just mean Danny Trejo, Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman; I mean the turns from Dennis Haysbert, Tone Loc, Jeremy Piven, Xander Berkeley and that grass from Prison Break. It’s such a surreal cast.

The film itself, though, is unreal. It’s a game of chess from start to finish of course, but for such a long and complex film it just flies by. The subplots help rather than hinder and bring it all together, and I think Tom Sizemore plays his role perfectly. Nutcase who could get away from the risk, but he’s so enchanted by De Niro he signs his own death warrant.

De Niro is, of course, perfect. Rocking his Springsteen Devils & Dust look, he smoulders through each scene and would usually be the MVP.

But. But! Al Pacino is utterly ridiculous. Not in a hammy way; far from it. But he plays the calm yet angry copper with home life flying around his head… then, every now and again, he just goes mental with the character. Not many could pull it off but he does. “Don’t waste my motherfucking time” had the audience in tucks, but nothing will ever beat 

I originally had it at 4.5 stars on Letterboxd, but watching it on the big screen again just bumped it up to a five. It’s so, so good.

Edited August 9 by Frankie Crisp
Nwankwo Kanu

[Mr_Danger]

The Last House

Starts off like a less well made The Martian survival film and has a reveal so terrible halfway through it drops the rating from a solid 3 star film to a 2 star film. I get Louis Letterier and Alexander Aja mixed up so had fairly high hopes for a survival film set in a house from that the guy who did Crawl and The Hills Have Eyes remake both solid fun films.

[SaitoRyo]

North Dallas Forty

Late 70s American football movie, with Nick Nolte starring as an ageing, beat up player who is becoming more and more disillusioned with what the game has become. I liked this because I really like Nolte and country star Mac Davis is very good as his best friend and teammate. It has that seventies 'Us against The Man' mentality, so feels very much of its time, but there's humour in there and the actual football scenes are well done. Similar to Semi-Tough, which came out a couple of years before it.

The Sure Thing

College students John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga need to get from New England to LA over the Christmas break and make the trip together, even though they're just acquaintances with polarising personalities. He has been promised a so-called 'sure thing' (shag) by a friend, she wants to see her boyfriend. They hate each other to start with but, naturally, realise they actually want to shag each other. It's a nice, traditional teen rom-com with a lot of heart and humour. In some ways a teenage test run for When Harry Met Sally for Rob Reiner.

[Lorne Malvo]

I watched The Cabin In The Woods for the first time since it came out back in 2012. 

I remember really loving it but this time around thought it was just fine.

For a film that pretty much hinges on its third act revelations, it's quite disappointing how underwhelming the ending is. They could've really gone batshit crazy with the concept but instead they shit the bed - those last 10 minutes especially are ridiculously rushed. Still, it's good fun for the most part and I would've expected Drew Goddard to have done more by now.

[DavidB6937]

I was having one of my brain is dead don't want to leave the house weekends so I watched T2, Escape From New York, and then all the Bourne films in order. Just what I needed. I'm ready to kick some fucking arse now.

[SaitoRyo]

Dangerously Close

What a great little oddity this was. It's a teen thriller from 1986 about a vigilante enforcement group at an elite high school who start to exert their power a little too forcefully. It has an anti-fascist ethos and a solid chunk of it is shot like a music video. It's very stylish and has a fucking belting soundtrack featuring the likes of The Smithereens, Lone Justice and Green on Red, amongst others. It got slated critically at the time and didn't do anything at the box-offce, but it's one of the more interesting Cannon Films efforts I've seen and deserved more than. Loses it's way a little towards the end, but there's a lot of good stuff here imo.

[BigJag]

Motor City. Hero(sort of). Falls in love with a gangsters moll. Falls foul of the gangster and is framed for drug offences. Ends up in jail. Moll goes back to the gangster. Hero plots a jail escape and rescue. 

The film has very little audible dialogue. The aesthetic is 70s Detroit, Michigan. Soundtrack to match, I think. Lots of cool cars.

Somebody really made an effort with this despite its bare bones story. I'm sure the film style has a name. Quite enjoyed it , especially the hammy acting by the gangster.

Alan Richardson stars, supported by Ben Foster, and Shailene Woodley.

Edited August 16 by BigJag

[TheBurningRed]

Some of the films I’ve watched this year 

Zootopia 2

Just as fun as the first film. I love them both and the shorts that I watched on Disney+. I will welcome a third in the series. Great voice cast too.

I Swear

Funny and heartbreaking. I remember watching the documentary when I was young and found it hilarious. But it’s only when I got older and watched more stuff with John Davidson and this film and you see how hard and painful it was for him. Top performance from Robert Aramayo. 

A Prayer Before Dawn

The true story of Billy Moore, based on his book. He was a drug addict and criminal who was sent to prison in Thailand. Played by Joe Cole. This got rave reviews but I turned it off halfway through. The first half was okay but it just got fucking ridiculous. Billy Moore is a strange one. Does a lot for drug addicts and homeless but is also part of the right wing auditors in Manchester and loves Tommy Robinson so he’s also a wanker. And for someone who is now against trans people, I don’t believe him when his relationship with a trans woman in the Thai prison was apparently “artistic licence” from the filmmakers and nothing to do with him. I think he’s now ashamed and making excuses. 

Safe House (2025)

Starring Lucien Laviscount and Hannah John-Karmen. Vice Presidents motorcade is attacked by terrorists so they go to Luciens safe house where he’s now hosting people from the CIA, Secret Service and other agencies that are just 3 letters. I got terribly bored but stuck with it to see who was the baddie. And the biggest baddie was Lucien Laviscounts acting. You could see everything coming. Don’t bother.

Leon: The Professional 

First watch. Odd film for the obvious reasons of the relationship between Leon and a 12 year old girl. Other than that creepy bit, I loved the action in this. Some great deaths. Final battle was tons of fun. Enjoyed Gary Oldman’s manic performance.

American Beauty

Still great. Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening shine. Mena Suvari is absolutely beautiful. Although between this and Ghost World, I had the biggest crush on Thora Birch when I was a younger man.

Final Destination Bloodlines

Another fun addition to the franchise. The Bam Margera looking guy should’ve got more screentime.

Mystic River

This is only the second movie I’ve seen Kevin Bacon in. The other being X-Men: First Class. A really good film but I feel it could’ve been better. Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn are excellent. Penn especially. Didn’t care much for Tim Robbins in this.

Thief

I remember this getting a lot of praise on here. I didn’t think it was good as others made it out to be. A solid film but I didn’t love it.

A History of Violence

A fun and violent 90 minute movie. Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello had some great chemistry and I really enjoyed their scenes together. Not a long drawn out film which I appreciated.

American Pie 2

It was the 25th anniversary of this film the other day. Maybe my favourite out of the original trilogy. It’s not everyone’s tastes, but it still makes me laugh and it whizzes by.

Buster

Phil Collins plays Buster Edwards, one of the great train robbers who managed to escape abroad for a period. Great soundtrack, a surprisingly good performance from Collins and an obviously even better one Julie Walters. Wrong tone for the subject. The BBC two part drama with Luke Evans and Jim Broadbent is far better. Did enjoy Larry Lamb’s Bruce Reynolds little monologue to Buster about how much he loves tits while spying on topless women from a hill. As I said, wrong tone. 

Michael

Seemingly part 1 of the Michael Jackson story. Music is great. Really good performance from Jaafar Jackson. Colman Domingo did such a good job as Joe Jackson. I think the family got the goal of making everyone feel a lot of sympathy for Michael. He obviously had a terrible childhood. I do wonder if they will touch on the other stuff in a second film.

Inglorious Basterds

My wife only agreed to watch this if I watched two films she wanted to see. She ended up enjoying this a lot. Still my favourite Tarantino film. Christoph Waltz is incredible. One of my yearly film watches.

St Trinian’s/St Trinian’s 2

Wifes choice. Fuck me. These were hard watches. It was nostalgia for her. But even she had to admit the second wasn’t worth watching. The first is shite, but the second film is so bad it makes the first look like Heat. We had 40 minutes left at one point and I honestly thought we were nearly done. I couldn’t believe it. Heart sank. There was no point of Sarah Harding in the second film either. Russell Brand snooping around school girls in the first film and trying to sleep with them? Hmm. Must’ve been hard getting in to character. And I’m sorry, but I can’t take Talulah Riley serious as she married Elon Musk not once, but twice.