VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[SuperBacon]

4 minutes ago, TheBurningRed said:

Annette Bening shine.

I think it's my favourite acting performance in a film ever, I just love it so much.

[SaitoRyo]

Johnny Handsome

A 1980s neo-noir? Directed by Walter Hill?! Starring Mickey Rourke?!? With a Ry Cooder soundtrack?!?!

This should have been everything to me, but I found it just sort of alright. It has an interesting premise, generally looks really good and, as expected in a Walter Hill film, there's some great action sequences. Hell of a supporting cast (Ellen Barkin, Lance Henriksen etc.), too, but there was just something missing for me. Something didn't quite click. I'm not sure what that is, but I turned it off feeling quite disappointed, even though it's not bad at all. I wanted to like it more than I did and it feels like one I'll have to re-watch in the future.

[johnnyboy]

The End of Oak Street

Anne Hathaway's summer of terror continues.  Looks like an overly corny 1980s Spielberg family number but is a touch more gory than a 1980s Spielberg family number.  If you've got little kids I would say it's a very hard 12a, it must be 1% under the 15 certificate gore threshold.  Overall, I enjoyed it (air-conditioning and a slush helped my enjoyment) but it's easy to pick apart if you feel like it... MASSIVE SPOILER

Spoiler

...e.g. at the end they're either with McGregor from a different reality, or the universe will implode as they've created a paradox by preventing people who helped them escape dinoland being transported to dinoland in the first place.

[Merzbow]

The Furious

A solid if unspectacular The Raid clone, we're only really here to watch the the real meat aka the fight sequences as the rest of the film is as generic as it comes to revenge action thrillers and the combat doesn't disappoint although it's far less gritty and real than it's main influence. There's a weird bit of editing in post during many parts that makes the fighting look a little uncanny which took me out of it a few times. The finale is excellent though, the 5 way fight is one of the best I've seen since Monkey Man.

Yayan Ruhian is in it though, like, he HAS to be in all the films of this sort.

Edited August 15 by Merzbow

[DavidB6937]

Don't know why I watched Scary Movie but I felt I needed to see how bad it was for myself.

Somehow it was worse than I ever imagined. I think I accidentally laughed once which was when they started the Golden parody just because it was so utterly ridiculous.

But it was an awful relic of a by gone era. Like a big screen version of those old school comedians that think they've been cancelled and want to show they can do all their old shite just to prove the woke society can't keep them down.

Or maybe the world has moved on in some ways and all that shite isn't considered to be funny anymore and it's the lowest form of shit.

[Merzbow]

3 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Or maybe the world has moved on in some ways and all that shite isn't considered to be funny anymore and it's the lowest form of shit.

They made another one this year and I hear the comedy is pretty much exactly the same, somehow still brought in 1/4 of a billion..

[Statto]

I think it's the new one David's referring to as they confusingly also called that simply Scary Movie. Probably an attempt at some sort of joke.

You could tell exactly what kind of presentation it was going to be when the main "gag" featured in the trailers was a pronouns crack.

[DavidB6937]

Yeah sorry should've made that clearer but also proves the point they basically haven't developed at all in 26 years or whatever it has been.

[BigJag]

Odyssey 

Watched this on an IMAX screen. My first experience of IMAX. Why is it so expensive? £26 per ticket!

Enjoyed the film. I like this Matt Damon.Similar to his role in The Duel. The action scenes were a little difficult to follow. The American accents and Americanisms in the dialogue are annoying.

[HarmonicGenerator]

The End of Oak Street is really good, undemanding fun. A lot of Amblin energy but reminded me a lot of the original Jumanji as well. Good dinos, story takes some unexpected turns, there is a good and brave dog (at least one cat sadly does not fare so well, which was not okay) and it’s nice to see an original film not based on IP. A strong 8/10 from me and a fun time at the movies. Better than any of the Jurassic World films by some distance.

[Mr_Danger]

Exactly how I felt too. Jumanji for older kids with some kids on bikes energy thrown in. Breezed by and considering the high concept, Anne Hathaway really puts a shift in. Your girl from My Old Ass (it’s on IPlayer for now, well worth a go) is good too.

[deathrey]

On 8/8/2026 at 1:44 PM, Nexus said:

Hardest thing to believe was that Kevin Bacon was considered attractive.

Kevin Bacon is utterly charming and charismatic which in turn gives him a level of handsomeness, very similar to Keifer Sutherland. Not handsome if you were just to see a photo of his face but everything about his charm and personality makes him attractive and in turn makes him better looking. It's the whole package.

[BigJag]

Rab Ra Radio (Gods Radio) 1,2&3

YouTube for the first two. Third one is a recent cinema release and can be found on streaming services.

Also on the Chaupal app which I think is linked to Prime.

So far they've made three films in this series of life in a retro but not completely defined timeline. Set in rural Punjab and starring Tarsem Jasser. The female lead for the first two films is Simi Chahal. The third film has Nimrat Khaira as the female lead. Punjabi cinema has a habit of putting prominent folk singers in its headline roles. Artists such as Diljit Dosanjh and Ammy Virk being very prominent. The supporting cast are generally actual proper actors and tend to be in pretty much every Punjabi film release. Including a very famous actress, who usually plays the firebrand elderly lady that gets shit done. She's remained the same age for about 40 years now.

The first Rab Da Radio film follows the love story of a couple from different hierarchies. Exploring how that hierarchical structure is navigated and the affect on the lives of the couple and their families. The second film follows the same couple and brings in relationship building with estranged extended family. The third film utilises a bunch of the actors from the first two films. However the characters and story from the first two films haven't been carried into the third film. 

These aren't action films with huge set pieces but rather charming tales of life in Punjab. Very pleasant.

 

 

Edited August 17 by BigJag

[Lorne Malvo]

Gone Girl (2014)

I seem to be in a phase of watching films I used to really like and realising I don't like them that much.

This is a frustrating film because it's good, but it could be really great if Fincher didn't make a bunch of really odd directorial decisions. There's a heavy layer of artificiality that is caked over the entire film, but it doesn't seem to be saying anything or making a point so I don't know what the film gains from it being done in this manner instead of being more grounded or gritty ala Se7en. 

Neil Patrick Harris is either miscast or just thought he was in a completely different film. A really odd performance that doesn't work at all.

Also, the film really should've ended with

Spoiler

Amy coming home to Nick 

but instead there's another 20 minutes of rushed scenes where they try to put a bow on things that didn't need wrapping up.

There's a couple of interesting scenes with Scoot McNairy and Nick's dad that threaten to show how much better this film could've been but they're never mentioned again, oddly. 

All of the above sounds harsh but I did still like it! It's just always annoying when you can clearly see how a film could be better but never quite reaches it. 

[DavidB6937]

Gone Girl is one of the few books I've ever read in one sitting. I couldn't stop. I didn't have high hopes for it as a movie, and I completely agree that the way it's shot does feel a bit strange, but Pike's performance really means I don't particularly care about anything else. I'm always blown away by it and couldn't imagine anyone else doing Amy justice the way she does.