VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[Statto]

Went to see I Play Rocky last night. 

I bloody loved it,  my wife laughed at a few things in the first hour then fell asleep.

And I think that's a pretty good summation of the film - if you have an emotional connection with Rocky (which I do) it's you'll find a lot of enjoyment. If you don't (which she doesn't) you'll probably find some amusement in some gags but then get a bit bored during the protracted period where they're offering him increasing sums of money to sell the script and he keeps saying no.

[Devon Malcolm]

2 hours ago, Statto said:

Went to see I Play Rocky last night. 

I bloody loved it,  my wife laughed at a few things in the first hour then fell asleep.

And I think that's a pretty good summation of the film - if you have an emotional connection with Rocky (which I do) it's you'll find a lot of enjoyment. If you don't (which she doesn't) you'll probably find some amusement in some gags but then get a bit bored during the protracted period where they're offering him increasing sums of money to sell the script and he keeps saying no.

I don't care about Rocky either so I'll probably not see this but from the trailer I'd say Anthony Ippolito's Stallone impression is incredible.

[hallicks]

Wild Horse Nine (Dolby Cinema)

Brilliant. Looks absolutely beautiful, Malkovich is awesome, the story and the intertextuality of the subplots are fantastic, everyone is on top form, it’s funny and tense and moving, and I’m a bit sad that D-Mal won’t be able enjoy it in the same way due to Sam Rockwell being in it. 

[Devon Malcolm]

40 minutes ago, hallicks said:

Wild Horse Nine (Dolby Cinema)

Brilliant. Looks absolutely beautiful, Malkovich is awesome, the story and the intertextuality of the subplots are fantastic, everyone is on top form, it’s funny and tense and moving, and I’m a bit sad that D-Mal won’t be able enjoy it in the same way due to Sam Rockwell being in it. 

I did quite like it but it just felt like McDonagh treading much the same path as he did with In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin.

And in fairness to Rockwell, this was the least crap I've ever seen him even if 95% of his performance was him saying Jimmy Corkhill's favourite line while looking incredulous. He's good at that!

[Devon Malcolm]

Godzilla Minus Zero

Loved it. I get why it's not gone down as well but I think swinging for a bleaker, less action-packed story that delves more into the characters and Japan's generational guilt really worked for me. Subverts what we normally get from sequels. The sound on these things is incredible too. Top 5 film of the year contender.

Wild Horse Nine

Yeah, like I've already said this felt like McDonagh playing the hits. I can't quite buy his political stance here because of some of the weird stuff in Three Billboards especially but I enjoyed it. Mariana di Girolamo is a star and if you want to see her in anything else I'd highly recommend Ema and Kill the Jockey.

Primetime

The necessity of the existence of this was cancelled out by the (excellent) Predators documentary. Focusing on the 'did you know media conglomerations are bad?' stuff is such low-hanging fruit. Pattinson's Chris Hansen impression was a distraction. The weird editing and filters were annoying. Just didn't work for me. Really disappointing.

Sew Torn

Who wants to see a crime thriller about a seamstress caught in the middle of a drug deal gone wrong? You should because this was awesome. One of the surprises of the year. Weird and formally unusual (tells three different 'what if' stories), I can see why it was a festival darling but I mean that in a positive way for a change. I'd recommend this to anyone wanting an accessible film that's at least something different.

The Weight

Russell Crowe's fat Marlon Brando era starts here? One of the few actually good films he's been in for years although I'd say his scenes probably took 2 days to shoot. Pretty good adventure-thriller with Ethan Hawke turning in a cracking performance as ever.

The Stunt Driver

Comedy biopic about Canadian stunt driver Ken Carter's attempts to jump the St. Lawrence river in a rocket-powered car. Pretty funny but Ben Foster inevitably steals it as a grumpy Evel Knievel. I love that guy.

Crawlers

We're spoiled for spider films now. This one has echoes of [REC] in that everyone's shut in their building as spiders eat everyone and everything in their sight. Matilda Lutz from out of Revenge battles spiders in a rubber BDSM suit if you need any more convincing. A good laugh.

Don't Move

Another spider film! Pretty stupid but also very funny at times mostly due to Rob Riggle. The opening scene is so unnecessarily brutal that it's funny. I enjoyed this a lot even though it's clearly shit.

The Mongoose

Liam Neeson action film. Very bad, even by his recent standards. Ving Rhames is now so old he sounds too tired to talk. Michael Chiklis does a Buford T. Justice impression (badly). No.

Tony

The Anthony Bourdain one. It was alright. Pretty typical biopic that didn't tell me anything about Bourdain, really. Emilia Jones the MVP. Excellent soundtrack. Nothing essential though.

The Devil's Mouth

We've had the odd few decent shark films in the last few years but this isn't one of them. Goes on forever. No idea why Kathryn Newton got roped into it but she does her best. Very boring and long. @Frankie Crisp is gonna be furious.

Ghost in the Cell

Indonesian horror comedy about a vengeful spirit haunting a prison. Incredibly gory and funny, takes too long to get going but when it gets there it's really enjoyable. Great title too obviously.

Aontas

Irish crime drama told backwards like Memento. The only reason it's told like that is because the story is boring. Not for me.

The Outer Threat

Tedious sci-fi thriller that's pleasingly anti-AI but nothing happens. Constance Wu should be doing better stuff than this.

Lee Cronin's The Mummy

It didn't bother me that this wasn't really a mummy film at all, it bothered me that it went on for 5 decades and that it's the usual James Waniverse jumpscare bullshit. Change your fucking tune, man.

Leviticus

Widely labelled as a queer take on It Follows, this isn't as good and is FAR too heavy on the metaphors but it's creepy and violent and has plenty to say about conversion therapy. Well worth seeing.

They Will Kill You

Zazie Beetz twatting people in her undies is the main selling point here but there really isn't much else going on. Some inventively disgusting effects but it's not nearly as funny or edgy as it thinks it is. Beetz needs a new agent, I don't think I've ever seen her in anything good.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

I really enjoyed They Will Kill You, its just a silly bit of fun. Nothing that will change the world, but as a waste of time it was a laugh.

[mim731]

2 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Godzilla Minus Zero

Loved it. I get why it's not gone down as well but I think swinging for a bleaker, less action-packed story that delves more into the characters and Japan's generational guilt really worked for me. Subverts what we normally get from sequels. The sound on these things is incredible too. Top 5 film of the year contender.

Saw this yesterday and this very much echoed my experience. I'm a huge Godzilla nerd, and I was blown away by the direction the film took. It felt oddly intimate and brooding at points for something on such a big scale. 

[tiger_rick]

2 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

The Stunt Driver

Comedy biopic about Canadian stunt driver Ken Carter's attempts to jump the St. Lawrence river in a rocket-powered car. Pretty funny but Ben Foster inevitably steals it as a grumpy Evel Knievel. I love that guy.

Surprised he's got the time between appearing on every football podcast there is.

[Devon Malcolm]