VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[Lorne Malvo]

I couldn't stand Nicholas Hoult in Skins, thought he was really bad. But I think hes been fantastic in everything since. The past few months alone he's been excellent in True History of the Kelly Gang and The Banker, and from the trailer he looks funny as fuck in The Great. One of those actors I've done a complete 180 on.

[Devon Malcolm]

He was superb in The Favourite as well. He also did a good little actioner called Collide a couple of years ago that sunk without trace, but well worth seeing, also for @Scott Malbranque favourite Felicity Jones.

[SuperBacon]

50 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

I couldn't stand Nicholas Hoult in Skins, thought he was really bad. But I think hes been fantastic in everything since. The past few months alone he's been excellent in True History of the Kelly Gang and The Banker, and from the trailer he looks funny as fuck in The Great. One of those actors I've done a complete 180 on.

Warm Bodies is another great performance of his.

[bAzTNM#1]

i ended up picking up a rare "Emmanuelle's Seventh Heaven" on VHS on Ebay, so quite proud of that. Guild Home Video release.

[Devon Malcolm]

The Aggression Scale (Prime)

From the director of Escape Plan 2! Not quite as awful but not far off. Essentially, it's Becky except shit. Don't fucking bother.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (nefarious means)

Still the greatest action-adventure film ever made, not that this needed confirming. How did Indy know that bullet wouldn't pass through that swordsman and hit an innocent bystander though?

Ratatouille (nefarious means because fuck Disney)

I've now almost watched all of Pixar's reportedly best films, of which this is definitely one. Brad Bird is absolutely ace, what a brilliant director and artist, he is. Pixar make films I wish I could have seen as a kid.

[Surf Digby]

6 hours ago, bAzTNM#1 said:

i ended up picking up a rare "Emmanuelle's Seventh Heaven" on VHS on Ebay, so quite proud of that. Guild Home Video release.

I misread that as "Emmerdale's Seventh Heaven", and imagined something quite different.

[Devon Malcolm]

Murder, My Sweet (nefarious means)

Did a double-bill of two early noirs yesterday, and this remains one of the greatest of all time. Always thought Dick Powell was a better Philip Marlowe than Humphrey Bogart, so that might explain why this is my favourite Raymond Chandler adaptation.

This Gun for Hire (nefarious means)

Veronica Lake shone so brightly so early in her life that it might have been inevitable she burnt out so quickly. But what a performance this was, the highlight of a still very good noir.

Prick Up Your Ears (YouTube)

Superb biography of Joe Orton and the lover who murdered him. Very funny and a great insight into his work and career, maybe Gary Oldman's best ever performance too.

Comfort and Joy (Prime)

Absolutely wonderful comedy about a radio DJ who gets caught up in a turf war in Glasgow between two ice cream companies. What a great actor Bill Paterson is, and what a great director Bill Forsyth was.

[SuperBacon]

The Truman Show

It's still a brilliant film, and I really enjoyed Laura Linney's performance this time around. Forgot how great the soundtrack is as well.

7year old, who loves the Carrey from Dumb & Dumber and The Mask declared at the end: "Well that wasn't funny at all"

[Frankie Crisp]

Just a friendly reminder that Fallout lands on Netflix tomorrow.

Expecting the Gladders rewatch review before I have my Coco Pops.

[cobra_gordo]

I've been watching action films whilst working from home to give me a bit of a distraction. Yesterday I decided to watch four of the Jurassic Park/ World films and watched the fifth this morning.

Jurassic Park. It's a masterpiece isn't it? I've probably seen this a legitimate hundred times over the past 27 years. Also the only time that having parents going through a divorce was a positive as I got to see it three times in the cinema as a dinosaur-obsessed 8 year old. It's only flaw is the bit after the t-rex knocks the jeep off that big wall and the drop is suddenly not there any more when Ellie and Muldoon turn up searching for Grant and co. That's it, my one nit-pick of a two hour film. And that score, Jesus, it's perfect, and not just the main two themes that everybody knows. I catch myself humming along to the score more than I say the dialogue. The CGI is so tastefully and sparingly done and used in perfect partnership with the practical effects. Shit, even how it's lit catches my attention in a few scenes. Spielberg's second best film after Jaws.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park. I'll always have a soft spot for this. I'll never forget being in the car when they announced in the radio they were making a sequel and after waiting seemingly forever for it come out went to see it on the first day of the school summer holidays.Yes, the San Diego bit descends in to cheesy monster movie territory and there's the awful gymnastics bit but it's made up for by the brilliant raptor attack in the long grass, the clifftop T-rex bit and Pete Postlethwaite being incredible. Not as good as the original but still bloody good fun.

Jurassic Park III. I remembered really liking this, I remembered thinking that at points it was better than The Lost World. I was wrong, like, really fucking wrong. The pace at which they get to the dinosaur island can't be knocked, William H Macey is brilliant, as is Sam Neil if only for the sheer irony that his character is only being dragged back at the promise of loads of money. And that's about it. The CGI is fucking abysmal and the practical effects really take a backseat which really spoils it for me. During the initial Spinosaurus attack everything feels like it's sped up, it's like something Harryhausen would have done at times such is the clunkiness, albeit with zero of his charm. The raptors look crap aswell. This is also the obvious point were these films started to make the decision to put bigger and badder dinosaurs in each new film and it just feels like a generic monster film for it. Also this has arguably one of the worst endings to any film ever.

Jurassic World. Another fond trip to the cinema to see this with my Mrs and kids but this time with my in-laws and late brother in-law. We were all buzzing as we left. Like The Lost World it's got it's flaws (the ending, lordy) but redeems itself with a few cracking set pieces. It's like The Force Awakens in that it's a bright and colourful rehash of the original and I have no issues with that. Id have happily had this as just two hours of walking around the park looking at stuff, the park looks STUNNING. The Indominous Rex is just the latest roided up over the top villain and again, there's a few great moments (the hunt with the raptors and motorbikes) but it's all building up to another CGI dino-battle and the inevitable T-Rex face turn. 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. What's that? Another souped up hybrid dinosaur? Fucks sake. The pattern of the sequels is solidified here- over-the-top monster, a handful of genuinely brilliant set pieces with a load of shit packed in between. The opening is still one of the best sequences in the whole franchise and such a great way to kick the movie off but the convoluted plot of "oh, we built a dinosaur park under a volcano" brings you down to earth pretty quick. Ted Levine is this film's Postlethwaite and steals every scene he's in wheras the two nerdy ones whose names I can't even be arsed to Google try their best to stink the place up. Everything stays pretty flat until the chase in the mansion which I'll admit in the cinema gave me the same buzz as watching the kitchen scene in the original as a kid. I really hope we get full-on dinosaurs taking over cities in the next one.

[wordsfromlee]

2 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

The Truman Show

It's still a brilliant film, and I really enjoyed Laura Linney's performance this time around. Forgot how great the soundtrack is as well.

7year old, who loves the Carrey from Dumb & Dumber and The Mask declared at the end: "Well that wasn't funny at all"

I think The Truman Show is a great film but I really struggle to watch it these days because I spend the whole time thinking about the logistics of all the extras in the town and it gives me a panic attack.

[DavidB6937]

20 hours ago, cobra_gordo said:

I've been watching action films whilst working from home to give me a bit of a distraction. Yesterday I decided to watch four of the Jurassic Park/ World films and watched the fifth this morning.

For me, they all work well as cinema experiences. As you've said, quality wise there's really only a couple that stand up once you re-watch them, with the original being a bonafide classic. But for pure brainless fun at the cinema you can't argue with what they do, unless you start thinking about them a little too logically and then it all falls apart really. But that's not what I look for in these movies.

[Devon Malcolm]

They're all shit apart from the first one.

[Chest Rockwell]

1 hour ago, DavidB6937 said:

But for pure brainless fun at the cinema you can't argue with what they do, unless you start thinking about them a little too logically and then it all falls apart really. But that's not what I look for in these movies.

I hate this argument that implies if you can't enjoy them you're some kind of killjoy. I wouldn't watch a film wanting to or expecting to hate it. It's not my fault that those films are so intrusively bad that I can't switch off and enjoy them because the story didn't make any sense and the characters don't behave like real people and the stupid cartoon dinosaurs don't operate with any kind of reasonable internally consistent logic and I'm left to try to fill in the gaps myself.

Edited July 3, 2020 by Chest Rockwell

[WeeAl]

In the order that I watched them over the last few days:

Trespass (1992)

This was a straight up, fun, piece of action that you would have had a hard time not enjoying. Thought William Sadler stole the show really, and Ice Cube was good as the snake like, underling bad guy. Plenty here to keep you entertained, including appearances from two of John McClane's friends from Die Hard's 1 & 2, Argyle and Barnes. I was half expecting Al or Zeus to turn up next.

One False Move (1992)

Paxton had a busy, quality, 1992 didn't he? This one caught me on the hop at the beginning, with how tough to watch the opening scenes were. It had me wanting to see the bad guys meet their demise from the off. Twists and turns towards the end as well that I didn't see coming, showed there were more layers to this one than I was expecting going in. A full thumbs up from me. 

Extreme Prejudice (1987)

I liked both of the films above, but this was definitely my favourite of the three. I don't know whether to be disappointed that I hadn't seen this one before now, or relieved that there are still a tonne of gems out there that I haven't seen, for me to find. Both from actors that I like and genres that I enjoy. Nolte channels his inner Clint here, as the hard man, morally incorruptible sheriff, with plenty of gems of one liners and a steely stare that would make a man weep at his own inadequacies. Dammit, doesn't he carry off a pair of Aviator's well too? Powers Boothe, Rip Torn and William Forsythe all had really good turns here as well. Two thumbs up. 

 

Many thanks to @Frankie Crisp and @Devon Malcolm for the links and recommendations (among many others, these seem to be particular favourites around here). Up next when I get a chance are Hard Times, Judgment Night, To Live and Die in L.A, and Night Moves. Looking through my watchlist though, I'll be kept pretty busy for quite a while as there's a tonne there that I've added to it, but gotten sidelined by TV shows with endless seasons. It's been nice to take a break from them though, and get back to some movie watching.

Edited July 3, 2020 by WeeAl