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VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented


Frankie Crisp

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Fantastic Mr. Fox (Mubi)

I wouldn't have ever expected to like Wes Anderson's films as much as I do but he always delivers something that I thoroughly enjoy. I slightly prefer Isle of Dogs out of his animated films but this was still a good laugh and I always enjoy an unconventional heist film.

Cannibal Mercenary (YouTube)

Thailand has a go at a Vietnam film, chucks in some cannibals for no good reason, and it's very enjoyable and cheap and stupid. Very mean spirited too, which I always like with this sort of thing.

Sahara (Netflix)

Not the good Humphrey Bogart, Jim Belushi or Matthew McConaughey ones, but the terrible Brooke Shields one. Her waterfall scene excepted, this is amazingly boring despite some violence near the end. Lots of brownface and terrible acting, maybe Cannon were right in expecting this to win Oscars. It's the sort of shit they go for.

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On 1/25/2021 at 8:36 PM, Keith Houchen said:

Bad Words (Amazon Prime)

Jason Bateman stars and directs this film about a man who exploits a rule in the Spelling Bee so he can enter it. Bateman is a magnificent shithouse in this. And of course, Philip Baker Hall and Allison Janney improve everything. A real hidden gem. 

Just watched this. A really fun 90 mins and you’re right; top shithousery throughout. I’d never even heard of it but I second the recommendation.

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I really loved The Dig on Netflix. There’s nothing revelatory about it, but it’s got some gorgeous shots, great performances from Carey Mulligan, Lily James and especially Ralph Fiennes, and it really captures how absolutely thrilling archaeology must be when you discover something incredible like the Sutton Hoo treasure.

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A request: can anyone find an online copy, kosher or otherwise of the 1993 Heart of Darkness film? It's got Tim Roth and Malkovich in it. I'm really intrigued by the cast after sampling the novel but cannot find it anywhere, even in grimy corners. Anyone? 

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14 minutes ago, Onyx2 said:

A request: can anyone find an online copy, kosher or otherwise of the 1993 Heart of Darkness film? It's got Tim Roth and Malkovich in it. I'm really intrigued by the cast after sampling the novel but cannot find it anywhere, even in grimy corners. Anyone? 

The good ol' Russkies always have you covered on ok.ru

https://ok.ru/video/926951344687

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11 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I really loved The Dig on Netflix. There’s nothing revelatory about it, but it’s got some gorgeous shots, great performances from Carey Mulligan, Lily James and especially Ralph Fiennes, and it really captures how absolutely thrilling archaeology must be when you discover something incredible like the Sutton Hoo treasure.

It was done really well. I'm not from the area but do live up that way now and everyone's very excited about how great it has turned out.

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I watched The Dream of the Mad Monkey/Twisted Obsession last night, after remembering that Mark Kermode used to bang on about it years ago. 

It's canny.

Jeff Goldblum is an American screenwriter living in Paris who takes a weird job writing a script for a film that a pretentious young English director (Dexter Fletcher, AKA the actual director of Rocketman) wants to make. Things then get weird when the director's 16-year-old sister gets involved in the process and it spirals from there. 

It doesn't really know whether it wants to be an erotic thriller or an art film, but it's certainly interesting and creates quite a combustible atmosphere as it chugs along. Also nice to see late 80s Paris on film. 

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I'm attempting to keep some sort of record of 2021 releases I watch this year so I'm not as totally lost when it comes to year-end rankings as I usually am. I think the best way to do it is to do an @HarmonicGenerator esque write-up every few weeks. 

The year started off well with Freaky, which I know has been around forever but isn't officially out here yet. It's a ton of fun and Vince Vaughan plays teenage girl just as well as Jack Black does in Jumanji. Really enjoyed this, one I'll probably rewatch every couple of years. Pieces Of A Woman has an incredibly harrowing intense opening 30 minutes, then the rest of the film is completely unremarkable. I think it was going for a Manchester By The Sea realism vibe, but then at times it suddenly veers into Hollywood sentimentality so it's quite confusing tonally. 

Stardust would've been decent if it was about any fictional rockstar, but as a David Bowie biopic it's a bit of a disaster and Johnny Flynn is horribly miscast. I only watched it last week and have already forgotten most of it. I watched The White Tiger afterwards which was much better. A rags to riches story, I've seen it compared to Parasite a few times but that's quite lazy and reductive. Loses points for having an unnecessary voiceover but gains points for Priyanka Chopra looking like Priyanka Chopra. Outside The Wire was the kind of mid-level actioner Netflix are quite decent at, and decent about sums this up. At times it threatens to be more interesting but for the most part its a generic, if watchable sci-fi actioner.

Assassins is one of those documentaries that probably benefits from knowing nothing about the subject going in, but I'd watched a BBC doc a few years back covering the same story so didn't quite have that effect on me. Well-made though and worth a watch if you don't know anything about the assassination of Kim Jong-nam. The Dig was just a nice warm blanket of a film and follows in the tradition of Summerland and Guersney Literary Society, they're gentle and nothing much happens but they're perfect Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea fodder. 

Promising Young Woman is probably my favourite of the year so far, although it's a bit more... safer or conventional than I expected. Carey Mulligan is great here, the performances across the board are all strong. I can see it being a crowd-pleaser if it ever gets to play in cinemas. 

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4 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

I'm attempting to keep some sort of record of 2021 releases I watch this year so I'm not as totally lost when it comes to year-end rankings as I usually am. I think the best way to do it is to do an @HarmonicGenerator esque write-up every few weeks. 

I did this in 2019 and completely forgot about doing it last year, but am committed to remembering this year but haven't come up with anything more robust than keeping a note on my phone.

Can't be bothered with Letterboxd as it's terrible to use and full of arseholes/po-faced writing, and don't really know how else to keep a list, so Samsung Notes it is.

42 watched so far this year but the best of the bunch has been Your Name, a film that absolutely baffled me, (to be fair did fall asleep for 10 minutes) but me and my 11yo adored it. The soundtrack was cracking as well. 

Rewatched Breakdown (preceded by Psycho and Girl, Interrupted for a REALLY cheery Sunday) and it's still an 11/10 and one of the best 90's films, and Do The Right Thing, which is still and will forever be, my favourite film. 

Oh, and Yes Man, which in Spinal Tap homage gets a review of 'No Man.'

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24 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

I'm attempting to keep some sort of record of 2021 releases I watch this year so I'm not as totally lost when it comes to year-end rankings as I usually am. I think the best way to do it is to do an @HarmonicGenerator esque write-up every few weeks. 

You should get a Letterboxd, you don't have to do reviews on it, just log what films you watch.

Also, one more follower to add to my 10,000+ that hang on my every word.

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30 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

You should get a Letterboxd, you don't have to do reviews on it, just log what films you watch.

I've got one and I follow you!

I do tend to keep a rough record of what I've watched but my problem is I have a terrible memory and can look at something I watched 10 months ago and not really remember what I enjoyed or didn't enjoy, or how I felt about it beyond like/dislike. At least by putting a few notes next to each film it should help jog my memory come year end.

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Just now, Lorne Malvo said:

I've got one and I follow you!

You're no bleedin' use then!

Also, if people follow me on there or Twitter for some reason I demand they use their forum name or I've no idea who they are.

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